Different Journeys
by Angel Spirit
Summary: Takuya changes everything when he hops onto Kouji's train last minute while going to the Digital World. Now find out just how different things really are. A season 04 rewrite wTakoujiness abound.
1. Race for the Train

Disclaimer: The muses would like to remind everyone that Angel Spirit doesn't own Digimon, just the plot of this epic fic you're about to read. 

Author's Notes: Ugh, so after going through and scanning through all of my chapters that I have here, I realized that this one probably needed to be revised a LOT more than some of my others...so many spelling/name errors in here...gulps nervously However, I DID start this fic when there still wasn't too much known about Frontier...and it's still going even though the season has long since ended! I guess one could say that I'm having WAY to much fun with it-LOL!So even though I AM revising the earlier chapters, I am most definitely working on update chapters as well. I apologize in advance for all the author alerts some of you are going to get from me, as I'm not sure if whether or not this site gives out alerts when stories are being revised...I might end up adding a few things into the plot here and there, and maybe change the title's of some of the chapters. Who knows?You might want to go ahead and read through some chapters again...but it's not a really big deal if you don't. It's all up to you! (Oh, and if ANYONE can tell me how to stop the words from getting squished together in the editing process, I'd be one _grateful_ author!)

On another quick note, I wanted to mention that I've changed their ages in thisbig ol' fic of mine,so that they're slightly OLDER than what they were in the series itself. (Hence, another reason for the much needed AU) Ages will be as followed:

Takuya and Izumi-14, Kouji (and later Kouichi)-15, Junpei-16, and Tomoki-12

Warnings: This fic contains yaoi/slash...so if you're not a big fan of male/male pairings I suggest you hit the wonderful back button to the top left of your page there and run far, far away. You've been for warned...don't say I didn't tell you so!

Story Rating: Starts out PG but varies throughout the fic.

Set Time: AU-rewrite of season 04 w/Takoujiness abound.

Summary: Takuya changes everything when he hops onto Kouji's train last minute while going to the Digital World. Now find out just how different things really are...

Di**fferent Journeys**

**Author: Angel Spirit**

**Chapter I: Race to the Train**

"Man oh man, why ME?" Fourteen year old Takuya Kanbara yelled as he rushed into the elevator of the train station head first,just barely making it in time as it nearly closed on his sneaker. Hitting his head against the wall of the elevator, Takuya sat up rubbing the small bump and looked at the other person that occupied the elevator as well.

Takuya's eyes nearly bugged out when he saw how incredibly _gorgeous _the other guy was. It looked like the other boywas about Takuya's own age, withbluish black hairthat was tied back into a low ponytail,with a blue, white, and black bandanna placed and tied neatly on his head. He wore a pair of blue three quarter length warm up pants with a small yellow stripe down the sides, and a yellow shirt with dark blue trimming on the neck and bottom portion of the shirt. It made Takuya wonder if the sleeves of the shirt had the same kind of dark blue trim as well. A matching blue wind breaker with the same yellow stripes that the pants held, completed the outfit. The strangers eyes were gorgeous too-a dark blue gray color. ThoughTakuyahad the feeling that theadorable looking boy in the elevator with him hadthose kind of eyes that changed color based upon his emotions...and Takuya found himself staring into the depths of those eyes unable to stop.

And then, feeling incredibly stupid, Takuya held up his cell phone and looked at it for the time-just as the other teen did the same thing. While Takuya's cell phone was red and black, the other teen's was blue and white.

"Hey, are you here because of this?" Takuya asked, still slightly out of breath from his lovely run through the train station. The other said nothing, and Takuya found himself slapping his hand against his forehead.

_**Stupid, STUPID Takuya!**_ He thought, andletting outa smallsigh the brunette stood and leaned against one of the side walls of the elevator. .

"You could at least say something!" Takuya grumbled trying his best to douse the sudden quiet of the elevator, glancing behind him through the windows (as it was a glass elevator), his jaw dropping as he realized that they were going beyond the last stop. Even the other teen in the elevator was looking slightly nervous as he eyed the outside as well. Though Takuya had to complement the other teen for keeping his cool.

"What's going on?" Takuya questioned out loud, and the only answer from the other teen was just a shrug. By now, Takuya was ready to scream in frustration. Didn't this kid know how to talk?

Just as Takuya was getting ready to push the emergency stop button to the elevator to see what was going on and to stop them from descending any further, the elevator suddenlystopped and the door opened. AllTakuya could do, wasjust stare wide-eyed at where it was the elevator had taken the two of them.

"It is now up to you Takuya.which train are you going to take...?" The voice from the cell phone told him, it's melodious femininetone piercing through the bustling crowd of kids of all different ages. Takuya, still wide eyed, only stared around him with fascination as the dark haired teen quicklypushed past him without sayinga single word to him andheaded towards one of the trains that was nearby. Snapping out of his trance, Takuya realized the time and made a mad dash for one of the trains, barely grasping a hold ofthe railing as it started to speed off. It seemed as though time was _definitely_ _not _on his side today. He seemed to be running late for everything.

Panting, as he finished clambering onto the caboose's platform, Takuya was just about to turn around andhead inside the train, when from the corner of his eyes, he saw thegorgeous boywho had been with him in the elevator...on a completely differenttrain altogether that seemed to be going in a different tunnel as well. Panicking and feeling like he couldn't let theother teen leave his sight,the brunetteformed a quick, yetsimple plan. Leading himself to believe that the train he was standingon now might not have anyone on it and that he'd be all alone to wherever he was going, Takuya backed up to the other side of the platform and took a running leap onto the platform of the other train-just as it disappeared intothe dark tunnel it had been heading for. Loosing his balance and being flipped over the back railing, Takuya found himself hanging on for dear life and groaned loudly at his own dumb luck.

"HEY! A LITTLE HELP HERE!" Takuya hollered, as he knew that the dark haired boy he had seen before was somewhere on this train. Just as Takuya felt as though he was loosing his grip, and starting to panic,a pair of hands reached down and grabbed his own heaving him up onto the incredibly small platform that was just barely big enough to hold the two of them. Stillpanting lightly, Takuya glanced up at his rescuer to see that it was indeed the dark haired teen from the elevator and gave him a small smile of thanks.

The other did nothing.didn't even return Takuya's smile. Instead, he turned his heel on Takuya and walked back into the train allowing the door to swing wildly behind him. With anger starting to build up inside him at being so bluntly ignored, Takuya headed inside after him. Following the other kid, Takuya saw that the train was empty, except for just the two of them.

_**He would've been all alone on this thing, and I doubt that he would've cared. I don't even know his name yet and this is the second time we've run into each other!**_ Takuya thought, as he found the other teen sitting on one of the train seats towards the front of the train.Gathering up all his courage, Takuya sat down across from him. They sat there in silence for what seemed like forever, and when Takuya couldn't take it anymore and was about to open his mouth to say something, theother boy_finally_ spoke. He said it so quietly, that Takuya almost didn't hear him.

"Why did you get on this train?" Takuya looked up from where he was staring at his hands, and looked at the teen with his mouth half open and another wide-eyed expression graced his features. Deciding that if he kept this up, his face would probably be stuck like that forever. Closing his eyes, Takuya realized that he wasn't quite sure how to answer the questionthat had been firedat him. But the other teen seemed dead serious about the question...and was looking at Takuya to answer it. And anwer it truthfully at that.

"What?" The brunette replied back, feeling slightly stunned by the off handed question. Trying to buy himself enough time to think of a decent answer that would satisfy the other.

"Why did you get on this train? Why didn't you just stay on the first one you originally chose toget on?" The dark hairedstrangerasked a little bit louder, in a more annoyed tone ofvoice-andTakuya didn't doubtforone second that the other had thought he hadn't heard himand Takuya gulped, stillnot knowing the answer to it. _Why had_ he decided to get on this train indeed?

"Um..." Takuya licked his dry lips, and tried to think of the answer that he knew was somewhere in his mind as he continued to buy himself more time.

"I-I'm not sure...last minute instinct?" He found himself sputtering, and groaned softly as he believed that he was making a complete and total fool out of himself...again. For some odd reason, this stranger seemed to have that effect on him.

"Good answer." The teen said in a heavy joking tone, as he continued to stare at Takuya.who was ready to melt from the expression within those gray blue eyes. ThenTakuya gave himself a mental shake.

**_Wait a minute-MELT?_ _He's a guy! What am I thinking? I'm not attracted to other guys-am I?_** But Takuya couldn't help but tothink how gorgeous the other teen was. He knew that he kept on thinking that, but he couldn't quite make himself stop those thoughts.

"Um...by the way, I'm Takuya." Takuya found himself introducing himself, knowing that he had to at least get this kids name from him now that he was actually speaking to him. It was better then silence...anything was better then silence now, with the strangesituation thatthey had gotten themselves into. Stuck on a train that they didn't where it was taking them, or why.

"Kouji." Was all the teen said in reply to Takuya's introduction...buthey,at least it was a start. At least Takuya had his name now and something to call the other...umm...Kouji, by.

"So where, do you think this train is taking us anyway?" Takuya asked, and Kouji shook his head.

"I'm not sure." Hereplied quietly, and then looked out the window at the long tunnel they were going through. Suddenly, something seemed to change...something happened. Takuya didn't know how to explainit, but he_felt _different-and he was sure that Kouji did too from the shockedlook upon his face.

"Did you feel that?" Takuya choked out, and Kouji nodded, standing as he started to make his way toward the main compartment, where the driver was.

"Let's go check this out. I've suddenlygot a bad feeling about this train." Kouji muttered, as Takuya nodded and started after the dark haired youth, finding himself standing rather close to him. Not really wanting to be left alone on thisfreaky train. Just before they reached the door that led into the conductor's chamber, something else happened. There was a brilliant flash of light, and the tunnel seemed tochange completely as it widened and became a bit more colorful than the dark and drab gray colors that made up the Shibuya train station.

The ground shuddered underneath the two teens, and they both feel off their feet-loosing their balance and were sentflying backwards.

Takuya landed butt first on the floor, skidding a few feet from where he had been standing and found himsel flying on his back as he moaned in slight pain from the incident. And then, suddenly someone was on top of him. Opening his dark brown eyes, Takuya found that someone to be Kouji. His black hair was in his face, and Takuya could smell the shampoo that Kouji must've used this morning. He breathed in Kouji's sweetscentdeeply without noticing he had done it until it was too late, recognizing the lightsmell of citrus.

"Oi." Kouji mumbled, standing up and brushing himself off. Feeling.different somehow but not able to put his finger onwhat it was. He turned around, and saw Takuya still lying on the floor, lookingjust a _little_out of it. Dazed and confused was more like it. Kouji blushed lightly realizing that he must've landed directlyon top of the otherteen when they had fallen over. Deciding that it was bestto be courteous, in the horribly awkward situation thatKouji had found himself in,heextended a hand to Takuya. Who looked at it for a second in surprise before grasping it firmly as Kouji pulled him to his feet.

"Thanks...uh...your bandanna is slipping." Takuya stuttered as he let go of Kouji's hand and fixed the bandanna so that it was sitting properly on Kouji's head. Kouji stood completely still while Takuya did this, thanked him rather quietly when he was finished, before turning away from him to face the window...and let out a yelp of surprise.

"What?" Takuya asked, his own cheeks burning slightly crimson as he realized that he had probably just made an embarrassment out of himself again, and then noticed that they were now out of the tunnel...and in a completely different world!

"Where in the _hell _are we?" Kouji gasped, and Takuya shook his head, not knowing the answer to his question. The horn of the train sounded. It was loud and obnoxious, not like any kind of horn that Takuya had ever heard before. It caused the both of them to cover their ears as they grimaced at the loud noise.

"Forget that question, what the hell are we riding on?" Takuya hollered above the noise as the loud, long horn stopped, the twoteenagers ears still vibrating from the sound.

"A train obviously...?" Kouji answered, but Takuya shook his head.

"No, something feels different. I don't know what it is,but something is...hey, look, a train station!" The goggle wearingbrunette exclaimed in excitement,pointed out the train station that loomed in the distance, interrupting himself.

"Maybe that's our destination?" Kouji asked quietly, and Takuya just shrugged while the dark haired teen glanced quickly at him, taking his eyes off of the train station for a moment.

"Dunno...hey, look, there's some kids! And it looks like they're in trouble!" Kouji realized thatTakuya was right, as he pointed a finger in the direction for Kouji to look in. The kids they were looking at now, _did _seem to be in trouble, and theylooked to be around their own ages as well. Except for the boy with the large hat on his head, who appeared to beshorter than the other two. He looked to be a few years younger then Takuya. There were two Digimon with them, and there was a third one advancing on it. It looked like some kind of demon creature ready to pounce on its victims.

"We've got to help them!" Takuya exclaimed frantically, and reached down for his cell phone, wondering if that had any way of either stopping the train or contacting help for those three kids in danger. But as he touched it and held it in his hand, it changed completely. Takuya gasped andusedhis right arm to shield his eyesat the strongred glow that his cell phoneemitted-and when he was able to see again, the cell phone had changed into something that wasn't a cell phone anymore.

As Takuya looked at it in awe, the voice that he had been hearing ever since he had said 'yes' to that stupid question about fulfilling his destiny came through it. When Takuya looked up again, he saw that Kouji's cell phone had also changed into the same kind of device. The devices that they both held now, were the same colors that their cell phones had been. Takuya's was red and black, while Kouji's was blue and white.

"Welcome to the Digital World, Takuya...Kouji." Takuya now noticed that it was a woman's voice that spoke to them, and it could be heard even clearer from this place...the Digital World she had called it.

"You are now Digi Destined, and you have chosen to fulfill your destiny as I knew you would. I am grateful to you both for your courage." Kouji looked up, and noticed that they were leaving behind the train station...leaving the other kids in danger.

"Wait, what about them? They're in trouble...we've got to help them!" Kouji spat out furiously, and Takuya's eyes opened wide as he looked up and sawt he look on Kouji's face. The expression it held, was one of anger-his dark blue eyes were much darker then before now, clouded over with the emotion that suddenly ran through him. Kouji found himself gasping slightly-he'd never quite felt his emotions as strongly as he'd felt them now.

"You can't help them. They've got their own journey to take, as you and Takuya have yours. You all must find the spirit that awaits you here in this world, and only when you find your spirits, can you finish your journey andall go home. Never fear, for all of you will meet up eventually. But now is not that time...good luck Digi Destined." As the woman's voice faded away, Takuya and Kouji were left looking out the window and then turned to stare at each other. Hoping that those other kids would be alright in the end, and that everything would be alright for them as well...

**TBC...**


	2. Agunimon's Spirit Awakens part I

Disclaimer: The muses would like to remind everyone that Angel Spirit doesn't own Digimon, just the plot of this epic fic that you're reading.

Author's Notes: And yet, another revised chapter. Hey now...WHY on earth didn't ANYONE tell me that I'd put the same 'scene' in twice? Pouts...thanks you guys...ah, well, I fixed it now! This is one of those 'fixed' chapters...eh...apologies for that everyone! And thanks to all who've reviewed! I also want to apologize if any of the words below are smushed together...for some reason feature seems to like to do that! I tried to correct as many of them as I could...

Ages go as follows:

Takuya and Izumi-14, Kouji (and later Kouichi)-15, Junpei-16, and Tomoki-12

Warnings: This fic contains yaoi/slash...so if you're not a big fan of male/male pairings I suggest you hit the wonderful back button to the top left of your page there and run far, far away.

Story Rating: Starts out PG but varies throughout the fic.

Set Time: AU-rewrite of season 04.

Summary: Takuya changes everything when he hops onto Kouji's train last minute while going to the Digital World. Now find out just how different things really are...

**Different Journeys **

**Author: Angel Spirit**

**Chapter II: Agunimon's Spirit Awakens-Part I**

It was starting to become one of those days. One of those days where nothing but strange and awkward things happened and one would wish that they had stayed in bed instead of getting up.

Takuya was thinking this, as he and Kouji-both still stuck on the weird train that they'd boarded earlier that morning-seemed to be going up a rather high slope that served as a railroad track. Track...wait a minute, so there was just one? Didn't railroad tracks usually have two...? Now Takuya was more confused than ever.

"So where do you think we are?" Kouji asked, looking out the window once more his dark blue gray eyes indicating the same puzzlement that Takuya was feeling.They had been in that position for awhile now, just looking outside at a world that they knew was definitely not Earth. Kouji's question broughtTakuya back to the present, from his own thoughts and unspoken questions of fear.

"I've got no idea. I'm really the wrong person to be asking." Takuya answered, and cringed a little bit. He hadthe _worst _headache. He'd gotten it when he and Kouji had fallen over one another, when he had felt something.strange...something...powerful.

"You alright?" Kouji asked, giving Takuya a strange look, causing Takuya to shake his head quickly as he tried to bring himself into the present, and thennodded as he looked Kouji straight into his dark blue gray eyes. Takuya really loved Kouji's eyes, for.they held a certain mysterious look to them. He could loose himself forever in those deep blue orbs.

"Yeah, I'm fine.just a bit of a headache, that's all."

"You too, huh?" Takuya glanced over at Kouji, realizing that this meant that the black haired boy must have also had a headache. Nodding again, the two fell silent as they continued to watch the green scenery pass by. Once more, the train they were riding blew its whistle but by now the two of themwere getting used to the strange noise, they weren't cringing every time it hollered out. While the whistle acted like a whistle it didn't sound like a whistle. More or less, it sounded like someone hollering and imitating a whistle as they hollered-it was weird,and kind of hard to explain.

They were passing by another train station, this one more deserted than the last one had been (it was now their fifth or sixth train station since they'd last seen those kids in danger, and Takuya was starting to loose count...).The kids with those two Digimon had been the only sign of life that they'd seen in thiscrazy mixed up world so far.

As the train continued on it's course, leaving the view of the last train station behind, Kouji realized that he couldn't stand seeing Takuya looking the way he did.with that sad, pouting expression on his face.

Grinning slyly and dropping his hand from Takuya's shoulder, Kouji shifted on one foot-and than promptly started to tickle the brunette standing next to him. Hoping that Takuya was at least ticklish.

Luck was on his side as the goggle-wearing boy started to laugh. When Kouji didn't stop; he onlylaughed harder until he finally managed to back away from Kouji. Takuya gave the dark hairedboy a sly grin of his own...and wondering what it was that Takuya could possibly be up too, Kouji started to back away with his hands slightly up in defense. He had only wanted to get Takuya out of the reverie that he had been in, and his plan had worked. But...at what cost?

Kouji soon found out, as Takuya pounced on top of hima second laterand started tickling his ribs...no doubt as payback. Kouji tried not to laugh. Ever since he had been a little kid he hadn't really been big on the whole tickling thing...but Takuya seemed to hit the right place, and soon Kouji was laughing so hard he was crying and writhing on the floor as he tried to get out from underneath Takuya.

"Say mercy!" Takuya said with a wild grin on his face, one that reached his dark eyes as they shined with laughter.

"NEVER!" Kouji gasped aloud, and finally got the better of the situation when he managed to reverse their positions so that way Takuya was once again underneath him and he was on top-stradling him.Takuya, being playful, managed to writhe out from Kouji's grip and knock Kouji softly to the ground and off of him. They looked at each other, lost in their thoughts for a few minutes.before they started getting closer minute by minute, secondby second.

And then...

The train stopped.

Takuya wanted to curse the train right then and there, he really did. They had been so close...!

"All aboard that's going ashore!" A loud, obnoxious voice hissed out as the doors to the train creaked opened, and Takuya stood first extending a hand toward Kouji to help him up. The dark haired, blue eyed teen gratefully took it and got up himself, then started for the nearest opened door as he brushed himself off and pulled himself back together. Takuya did the same, making sure to retrieve his hat that had fallen off onto the floor during their playful skirmishing.

"Wow...look at this placeTakuya-kun." Takuya blushed a little as he readjusted his hat, at the 'kun' that Kouji had attached to his name. As he came up behind Kouji, heplaced his head on the other's shoulder and suddenly got the courage to wrap his arms around hisslim waist as well...looking out into the beautiful scenery with him. Kouji shifted a little so that Takuya could see better, and the brunette smiled in awe.

The place where the train had left them off at was definitely gorgeous. It was a forest, full of beauty and life. In the distance lay a mountain range and from where they were standing, they could see that one of the mountains held a waterfall.

"This place.is.incredible." Takuya muttered as suddenly the train lurched forward, dumping the two boys in a heap on the ground. This time Takuya landed on top of Kouji, who let out a slight moan of pain and they had started to argue...when the train actually _talked_ to them. Scaring them both out of their wits.

"Well boys, this is the end of the line for me! I've got more runs to do, so good luck! Maybe we'll see each other again, and maybe we won't...who knows in this place." As the train started to go backwards from its current position, the two teens on the ground just shifted position so that way Takuya was sitting in Kouji's wide stretched out legs, and they just stared at the train in wonder and astonishment.

"Did you...did you just talk?" Takuya gasped as the train slowly continued to back up.

"Of course I just talked! Who else did you think could talk to you around here? There's no Cherrymon's around so the trees certainly don't talk!"

"Cherrymon's?" Kouji asked, looking slightly confused and a bit disoriented as well.The train rolled his eyes...eyes.it had _EYES_! Both Kouji and Takuya let out a yelp of surprise, and fell backwards again. Takuya landing on top of Kouji, both sitting up minutes later blushing as Kouji found his arms around Takuya's waist...for some reason though, he didn't put his arms down. It felt comfortable this way...it felt..._right_.

"Who...who...no, wait-_what _are you?" Takuya questioned, eyes bugged out wide as he stared hard at the train.

"I'm a Trainmon. Welcome to the Digital World! Adios Amigos!" The train hollered as it rolled away much quicker and was soon out of sight, leaving the two boys alone at the edge of the forest.

"So what do we do now?" Takuya asked, looking fairly confused...and...quite tempting actually. Or so that's what Kouji thought as he glanced at his direction. The lost look in Takuya's eyes made him look even cuter than before. And Kouji couldn't help but think about how _close_ they'd come _earlier_ before that damned Trailmon had interrupted them. It made Kouji wish that they could get that close again...

_What is with me so far today? I've never been interested in guys or girls for so long...and nowhe comes along and look what happens!_ Even though Kouji was trying to ignore the feelings that he wasalready starting to have for Takuya, it wasn't helping...especially with the fact that he had just met the guy today.

"...so?" Takuya had been talking to him, and Kouji hadn't even realized it! Mentally giving himself a wake up call, Kouji justlooked overat Takuya, and shrugged.

"So...what?"

"You weren't paying attention to what I was saying, were you?" Takuya grinned at this, and Kouji grinned back sheepishly.

"So what if I was or not? You wouldn't know."

"Ah, aha, and that's where you're wrong buddy! Tell me what it was I just asked you." He asked playfully and Kouji did a face fault, deciding that Takuya would now know that he indeed hadn't been paying attention to him. But, that didn't mean that he'd tell the brunette what it was he had been thinking about...and Takuya sighed when he caught the suddenfrown on Kouji's face.

"I was asking what you wanted to do next. Should we continue on into this forest and head up toward those mountains over there?" Kouji thought about it for a few minutes. He had originally gotten on the train to be alone...away from the other kids. And yet, here he was... stuck in some kind of strange world known as the Digital World, and he had Takuya with him. Who had leapt off of the train that he had originally chosen last minute...and onto his. It made Kouji want to believe in fate. But, he hadn't believed in fate or love for so long...

"Yo, earth to Kouji!" Kouji blinked several times and turned a little red in the face after realizing that once again he had been spacing out...what was wrong with him today? He _never_ acted this way. He wanted to blame it all on the overly cheerful brunette standing next to him...

"Uh, sure, yeah that sounds fine. We can do that!" He blurted out, definitely not wanting Takuya to ask why he was acting so spacey. It would be _way _to embarrassing, and Kouji was starting to feel like he'd been through enough embarrassment for one day.

"Alright, fine...then let's go." Nodding at him, Kouji followed Takuya through the miniature forest before they hit the mountains. There wasn't much of the forest, it seemed as though the Trailmon had dropped them off at the end of it. Which, was a good thing for the two of them because it meant that they didn't have to go through it...

Taking out his cell phone...or what had been his cell phone, and was now some kind of device, Kouji was wondering what it was for when he heard the voice again. Takuya must've heard it from his as well, because the next second the brunette had his own device out and was staring at it, dumbstruck.

"It-it's talking again Kouji!"

"So listen to what it's saying Takuya." Kouji snapped back, feeling a little irritated as they had missed half of what the voice was saying already. It was the female's voice again...but who _was _she?

"-You are now the Digi Destined. You must find your spirits..." Their devices crackled, making it harder to hear the woman through the static.

"Spirits? What spirits?" Kouji asked, frowning. He had had the feeling that something strange was going to happen today, but hehadn't thoughtthat it was going to be _this_ strange.

"Spirits that will help lead you back home." The feminine voice replied.

"So, in order to get home we have to find these spirits, is that what you're telling us?" The voice paused at Takuya's question, but answered a minute or so later.

"Essentially yes, that is what's to happen. Now you must be on your way, but be careful of the Rose Morning Star, it's caused much heartache to those before you...steer clear. I'll leave you now. What you do next is up to you."

"Wait a minute, what are these devices called? Can you at least tell us that?" The voice replied once morebefore fading away.

"They're called Detectors. They'll help guide your way." And with that, the voice was gone, and the glowing from their Detector screens vanished and went dark once more.

"Hmmm...okay, _that_ was certainly _very _interesting." Takuya commented,as he and Kouji had started walking again and were now starting to head upa trail that they had found-one that looked like it would lead them deeperinto the mountains.

"I'm just wondering what that voice meant by the Rose Morning Star." Kouji wondered aloud, and Takuya shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but whatever it is if it comes our way I'm positive we can handle it!" Takuya gave Kouji one of his goofy grins, and Kouji couldn't help but smile back...Takuya's grin was contagious.

They walked on and on, for what seemed like an eternity. Occasionally theystopped to rest here and there, usually when Takuya complained of his feet hurting or something like that. Kouji didn't mind it though...he had to admit that it was nice to take a break, and he probably would never have stopped as frequently, if Takuya wasn't there with him.

Now that they were walking again from the last rest they'd taken, there was one of those damned awkward silences between them. They had been talking for a good part of the way already, and had just fallen quiet a few minutes ago anyway. Mainly they talked a little about families and stuff. Kouji had learned that Takuya had a rather large family...two younger brothers and one older sister. Both of his older siblings were now away at college so they weren't home very much. His younger brother, Shinya was the baby of the family at age 10. His dad worked in a lawfirm, and his mother was one of those stay-at home mom's. Takuya had used to share his room with his older brother before he had moved into the dorm rooms at the local University...and now Takuya was grateful to have the rather large room to himself.

Kouji had told him that much of his life had been living in the same run-down house year after year. Normally when Kouji had wanted something fixed (be it a light bulb, a leaky faucet or what not), he'd be the one who'd have to fix it. His stepmother worked twenty-four seven and he rarely saw his dad anymore. It was as though his father didn't even exist. As for his real mother, she'd passed away years ago when he was just a baby...while Kouji's father had never quite said it, Kouji had the feeling that she'd died giving birth. And that the reason why his father never paid much attention to him, was because he blamed him for her death. Takuya had declared this not to be true...but...it still didn't chase away the constant thought that had been stuck in his mind for many years.

What Kouji hadn't told Takuya, was that sometimes when his dad was home he was drunk as a skunk (usually either after a rough day at work...sometimes for no apparent reason at all), and ready to beat the living hell out of him. When this happened, Kouji would high-tail it out of the apartment (having learned the hard way not to be around his father when he was like that), phone hisstepmother at herwork place from a nearby pay phone and tell her not to go home that night. Kouji had never really told anyone much about his life before...or himself. He tried to keep as closed off from people as much as he possibly could. But, for some odd strange reason, he felt like he could really talk to Takuya and that he'd actually listen. Maybe not completely understand, but he'd at least listen and offer some form of comfort.

"It looks like it's going to rain or something." Takuya murmured, as Kouji nodded and followed his path of vision so that they were both looking upinto the sky.A sky that was darkened to the color of charcoal, and thunder rumbled in the distance.

"I think it's time we found some shelter or something..." Kouji replied back, as a raindrop suddenlyhit him in the forehead.

"Well if you think that, then we'd better look fast, because.it's gonna pour!" Takuya hollered and took off with a mad dash. How Takuya had figured out that it was going to pour from a mere slow starting drizzle was beyond Kouji. But sure enough, not seconds after Kouji had started to chase after him, lightning cracked through the sky illuminating both their dashing figures...and then the clouds let loose.

"The inevitable." Kouji muttered, as he was soon right on Takuya's heels. The mountain trail that they were on was narrowing so now only one person could be on the trail. They couldn't run next to one another so Kouji settled for second best, and vowed not to loose the brunette from his sight. It'd be bad if they got separated...especially in this kind of weather.

"You're telling me. Hey! Look up there!" Takuya hollered back into Kouji'sdirection, pointing at what he'd seen. As Kouji brushed a few strands of wet hair that had fallen from his bandanna, he saw what Takuya was looking at. A little ways ahead of them, there was a slight cliff face, with what looked to be a medium-sized hole stuck off to the side...a cave.

"Anything to get out of the rain, let's head for it!" Kouji suggested, as the two of them were both now drenched to the bone and hehimself was starting to shiver as a cold wind started to pick up. As the two boys made a mad dash for the shelter that Takuya spotted, the rain seemed to come down even harder.

Eventually, they made it up to the hole in the rock that Takuya had spotted.and sure enough, it was a cave.

"Thank god!" Kouji exclaimed, starting to wring outhis wet hairas they headed inside. Itlooked a little worse for the wear, but they could make do with it. What bothered Kouji now, were two things: 1-his hair was wet, and his bandanna had fallen off sometime during their run (so now it was hanging loosely around his neck), and he hadn't had time to put it back on. So now his hairwas hanging all over the place. 2-his clothes were soaking wet, sticking to his lithe body...and he doubted that he-or Takuya-wouldbe dry anytime soon, unless a fire was built.

Near him, Takuya was silent but shivering as well. Somehow they had to get a fire started.or else they'd both freeze. Takuya had come to the same realization the same time Kouji did, but Kouji was the first one to make the move.

"Come here Takuya." Nodding, Takuya did as he was told and stood inches away from Kouji so that they were standing face to face, noses just barely inches apart.

Kouji stripped out of his windbreaker, and laid it down so that it could dry. It helped a little, for even though his yellow and blue T-shirt was wet, it wasn't as hopeless as his windbreaker was. Takuya did the same with his red over shirt that covered his own yellow shirt with a intricate black spiral design. Kouji was tempted to ask Takuya what the symbol stood for, since he also wore it on his hat as well...which, came off next. As Takuya shook his head to try to let loose the water.it sprayed all over Kouji.

"Takuya! Cut it out!" Kouji snapped, now even more wet and feeling more irritated than before,and then saw Takuya grin sheepishly.

"Sorry buddy." Kouji was in the process of continuing towring out his own black hair to dry it as much as he could. The black mass was slowly starting toturn into little small ringlets at the bottom, causing Kouji to make a face. That was the one thing he that he hated about having long hair...but for some odd reason, he could never bring himself to cut it.

"We should explore this cave while we're here...maybe see if there's some dry wood in here or something?" Takuya suggested, in the midst of Kouji's despair about his little ringlets.

"Sure, whatever." Kouji hadn't meant to sound offensive at all, but apparently Takuya had sensed it. So Takuya just shrugged and moved forward, not really mentioning it-leaving his over shirt and coat behind. Kouji found himself doing the same, as he followed Takuya deeper into the cave. Besides, who would want a pair of gloves, over shirt, hat, and windbreaker anyway?

Along they crept, their footsteps making barely any sound in the sandy floor of the cave. Until the bottom seemed to drop out from underneath Takuya and the brunette disappeared. Kouji reacted fast, but not fast enough as he reached out frantically-trying to grab ahold of one ofTakuya's flailing arms.

"KOUJI!" WhileTakuya desperately cried out his name, the youth disappeared into the sand.

"No, Takuya!" Seconds later the ground rumbled underneath him, and Kouji gasped in stunned surprise as he also disappeared swiftly into the sandy ground and he held his breath.

_Quick sand...?_ Kouji thought, and was just starting to panic when he started to run out of air...before he fell onto a hard, solid ground, striking his head...and the world went black around him.

* * *

Takuya had been the first one to come too. He was lying on his stomach, with one arm outstretched in front of him and the other trapped underneath his body. 

Bringing himself further to the state of consciousness, he glanced around and saw Kouji a few feet away, who was still unconscious...and lookedin slightly worse shape than himself. Worried about his dark haired friend, Takuya went over to him and shook him a little. The boy groaned softly, but didn't appear hurt to be seriously hurt. Sighing in relief after checking Kouji over for any possible injuries that might've been hidden, Takuya lightly shook him again.

This time he got a reaction as Kouji's dark blue gray eyes opened slightly, before blinking several times to adjust his eyesight to the dark lighting of where they were...Takuya assumed that they now had to be _below_ the cave.

"Wha-?" Kouji mumbled, lying on his back. He had one hell of a headache that was pounding into his skull,and he sat up a little too quickly-causing it tothrob even harder he fell backwards again. Takuya caught him before his head could strike the ground once more, as Kouji closed his eyes tightly.

"Kouji...you okay?" Takuya's face swam into view, and Koujiwas lead to believe that he must've hit his head harder theneither of them originally thought. Gulping and taking a breath, Kouji nodded as he accepted Takuya's outstretched hand and allowed the brunette to help him up.

Staggering to his feet, andallowing himself to lean slightly against Takuya for support as the world spun around him once more, Kouji tried to take agood look around. They were in a darker part of the cave than before, and the air was stale here. Making it seem that no one had been here for many days...maybe even years.

"Well...what next?" Takuya asked, and Kouji had no answer as he tried to slow the throbbing pain he still felt. Wondering why Takuya always had to ask him what to do...

Reaching up to his temple, Kouji probed it lightly and winced as he felt a bump along it. He was sure to get a bruise or something there...just _great_.

"Well, we've already explored this far, haven't we?"

"So you want to keep going?" Takuya questioned, concern filling his voice as he looked as deep and as far as he could into the cave, squinting his eyes as though he could get a better look if he did so.

"Sure. Why not?" Shrugging, Kouji started leading the way-not wanting Takuya to see just how bad he still felt-and Takuya followed.

They had just started down the new path in front of them when suddenly light exploded from all around them...

TBC


	3. Agunimon's Spirit Awakens part II

Disclaimer: The muses would like to remind everyone that Angel Spirit doesn't own Digimon, just the plot of the fic. The muses would also like to disclaim the fact that some of the words are now 'smushed' together which happened during the revising process...it's not our fault...

Author's Note(s): Grrrr...so I had this chapter all nice and neatly revised and was nearly done with it-only a few more paragraphs left and then I could repost it...when...grumbles I hit the wrong sequence of keys on the keyboard...and the window closed up on me...(wails) It as terrible, I was so angry at the damn thing. ANYWAY, so I had to revise this again for like, the third time...because this first time my coworker had accidentally closed it when she was here with me. Growls again BUT, it's now done! So enjoy all you wonderful people you...and yes...I plan to update my other fics soon...very, very soon...

Warning: This fic contains slash/yaoi...if you're not a fan of male/male pairings, I suggest that you hit the wonderful back button to the top left of your page there and run far, far away to forever hold your peace. You've been for warned.

Pairings: Takuya/Kouji with some Junpei/Izumi hints scattered throughout

Time Setting: AU season 04 fic

Chapter III: Agunimon's Spirit Awakens (Part II)

Both boys shielded their eyes from the bright light, and when the light had dimmed down enough for Kouji to believe that he could see he lowered his arm-and gasped. They must've tripped some kind of mechanism or something because ahead of them, the once dark tunnel was now brightly lit with torches all along both sides of the cave.

Taking caution, Kouji went over and grasped hold of one of the torches lifting it out of its holder so that way, at least if the torches didn't last all the way through the tunnel they'd at least have some light to continue on with. Looking over at Takuya, and nodding in the general direction setbefore them Koujistarted forward andTakuya followed, looking around them with awe.He wasn't sure if Kouji had seen what he was seeing now, but it seemed as though there were markings-incantations or something of the like, etched into the cold hard stone. If Kouji saw them, he didn't say anything...in fact, he didn't say anything forquite some timeand the silence was starting to creep Takuya out.All that could be heard were their soft footsteps that echoed throughout the underground tunnel.

"So.Kouji...um...where do you thinkthis tunnel will eventually lead us to?" Takuya asked, trying to get atleastsome conversation out of his new found friend.

_Just a friend, or is he something more?_ A voice whispered inside his mind, and Takuya tried his hardestnot to pay attention to it...but...the more the question flitted around inside his head, the more he thought about it, and the more he realized he wanted it answered..._soon_.

Takuya had been so wrapped up in his thoughts, that he hadn't fullyheard Kouji's reply to his question-instead,he only managed tocatch the end of the dark haired teen's answer.

"...the end of the world?"

"What?" Takuya asked,as he quickly brought himselfback to reality and Kouji laughed a shallow laugh.

"You weren't paying attention, were you Takuya? And _you_ were the one who asked _me_ the question in the first place!" When Kouji turned his head enough,so that he could see Takuya's face, Takuya found a smirk on it.

"Well...uh...I had a lot on my mind?" Kouji laughed once more-but this time it was a bit gentler as he repeated what he had said a few seconds ago.

"I was _saying,_ that maybe it could lead us to nowhere or maybe it could lead us to the end of the world...who knows?" Takuya nodded, once again sinkingdeep into his own thoughts. This time, it was Kouji who couldn't stand the silence.

"Is it just me, or is it getting really warm in here?"

"Nope, it's not just you." Takuya murmured,as he pulled his shirt away from his chest a couple of timessince it was starting to stick to his skin with the sweat that had been gathering. Looking over at Kouji, he realized that the normally pale-faced teen actually had a little bit of color from the warmth they were feeling.the sudden heat was rising as they headed deeper into the tunnel. Kouji's bandanna was also looking damp with perspiration, and soon both boys grew very uncomfortable.

So uncomfortable, that Takuya wanted to take off his shirt and just go with his bare chest. But, he decided against it as they finally saw somelight coming through an opening ahead of them.

"You think that maybe the source from all this heat is beyond that?" Takuya asked, pointing to the opening and Kouji quickly nodded in reply.

"I don't think so...I _know_ so." Takuya knew what Kouji meant by that statement. It _did_ seem as though the closer they got to it, the more the heat got unbearable.

"I think I was right...and I'm starting to really _hate_ being right, right now." Kouji muttered, as Takuya finally came up to where Kouji had stopped and looked over the other's shoulder...gasping loudly.

They were standing on a cliff...and below them, was nothing but...fire...?

"Whatin the _hell _is this! A lake or something turned to flames?" Takuya yelped as he started to back off, grabbing hold of Kouji's yellow and blue rimmed shirt...bringing him along with him. Kouji followed willingly, as both boys were now perspiring quite heavily. Both were feeling thirsty beyond belief-Takuya felt like he hadn't had water in days and he was positive that Kouji was feeling the same.

"There's no way out if we continue on so we'd better get back.oh..._shit_." Now it was Kouji's turn to grab a hold of Takuya's shirt, with Takuya still holding onto his _own _shirt, and Takuya gave him a strange look that pretty much said: _'okay, what's wrong now?'_

"I just saw something fly around out there!" Kouji whispered frantically, and both of their eyes opened wide with fright.

"What...what could _possibly_ be able to live in heat like this? Or even _survive_ in it?" Takuya panted out, and Kouji shrugged moving so thathe could get a better look. Takuya reluctantly followed, not really wanting to stay there longer than they absolutely _had_ to.

"Takuya...?" Takuya walked so that he wasright up beside Kouji, since the opening gave enough room for the both ofthem to stand side by side, and stared at where the teen was pointing at, for he was pointing upwards, and Takuya's heart nearly froze with fear when he finallysaw what Koujihad seen.

"Oh...oh no..." Both boys were now whimpering with the same fear that showed in their eyes, for up above the firey lake beneath them,was a huge swarm of sleeping bats...hanging from the stalactites. One of them stretched its wings and yawned, causing bothDigi Destinedto tense up for a minute as their minds thought that it was about to wake up. Suddenly, Takuya's Detector beeped low, and the brunette made agrab for it before it could make any more noise that would set the millions of bats off in a frenzy at any minute.

"That thing has a lousy sense of timing." Kouji whisperedharshly,as Takuya held the black and red device in front of him,while it lit up as the same feminine voice from before announced quite loudly:

"These are Batsomon. They can adapt to their climate whenever they need to, and as quickly as they need too. Though some say that they prefer the heat of the fire over anything else, for the flames tend to increase their strength-and surprisingly their size as well. They are in deep hibernation during this time of year, and if you waken them, you'd better be prepared to run, because their attack is lethal." With that, the Detector stopped glowing, and went back to normal as the voice suddenly disappeared.

Both Takuya's and Kouji's eyes were as wide as they could go as they had hoped to the gods that the voice from the Detector hadn't been to loudenough towaken theBatsomon. Takuya gulped nervously,as hecautiously put his Detectoraway and started to walk ever so slowly backwards, as Kouji was doing already. But before Takuya could get deeper into the safety off the tunnel and away from the cliff's edge, the cliff started to crumble, and he started to fall. No matter what he did to try to hang onto anything. His screams echoed through the cave and through the tunnel as Kouji pivoted quickly and tried to reach his friend before it was too late.

But it was already to late. Kouji had been one second to late, as Takuya went plunging down to the fiery lake down below, the crumbling cliffside going with him. Kouji closed his eyes, feeling the tears start to burn their way through.but he promised himself that he wouldn't cry. He _wouldn't_. He hadn't cried since many years ago-and he wouldn't start now.

"TAKUYA!" Kouji yelled, and so wrapped up in the fact that he was going to loose what had to be one of the first friends he had made in a very long time-and quite possibly someone he was more interested having for more than justa friend-he hadn't seen the Batsomon all awake rather angrily as they eyed him. The onething that warned Kouji of the Batsomon's awakening was their sonic noise that echoed throughout the cave. Kouji clasped his hands over his ears, trying to protect his fragile ear drums from the intensity of the piercing scream that seemed to emit through the Batsomon. Now, Kouji didn't usually try to run from any danger, and usually he wasn't scared of anything-hadn't really been scared of anything for a long time. But as the Batsomon detached themselves from the stalactites in the cave, and he heard their obnoxious, loud screaming Kouji turned heel and started running for his dear life.

Unfortunately for Kouji, he didn't get very far. For one of the Batsomon had already reached him and had tried to grab him once with its long, outstretched claws. With Takuya temporarily forgotten, all Kouji could do was try and get out of this alive. He'd mourn Takuya later...but, he didn't even get a quarter of the way back through the tunnel before thesameBatsomon tried to grab him again, and this time, it got lucky.for it dug it's claws sharply into Kouji's shoulders. Kouji went rigid with shock and stopped running then as he felt the sudden pain flare up in his shoulders. He sucked in a deep breath and let the tears finallyflow, as the Batsomon carried him back through the tunnel and into the cave where the fire pit that had taken Takuy from himlay, seeping its claws deeper into Kouji's shoulders, as though trying to punish him for disturbing their peaceful slumber. Kouji hissed out in pain, and didn't even realize that he had called out-in a pain filled voice-Takuya's name as the Batsomon soared up higher and higher. Before Kouji knew it, he was going through another tunnel located on the other side oftheunderground cavern,that neither he nor Takuya had seen because it had been so far up and beyond their eyesight. And the other Batsomon were following him and his capturerlike an angry flock...

* * *

"NO!" 

Takuya couldn't feel anymore, he couldn't think...all he could do was...well, fall. And fall he did, very quickly. Before Takuya knew it, he was plunging into the flames of the lake. But...he was still alive? How was this possible?

Takuya took a breath as he looked around him, and realized he didn't feel any pain from his fall either. He was not hurt, and in fact, he didn't even feel any of the heat down here. It was as cool as the cave above them...the one from earlier beforehe and Koujihad fallen into the underground tunnel. Licking his lips, Takuya looked around and then hugged himself tightly as tears crept into his eyes and threatened to flow.

_Kouji-kun is probably going to think I've died or something.and there is no way to let him know that I'm alive and well! _Takuya bit back a sob as suddenly he saw a figure in the distance and tried to call out to it, but found himself unable to speak. Shutting his eyes tightly from the terror that was starting to grow within him, Takuya fought togot acontrol of himself and his emotions,shaking himself out of the sorrow that filled his heart. He _had_ to get out of here.he had to get back to Kouji and let him know that he was alright, alive, and well!

_Well, if this doesn't get you to tell Kouji your feelings about him, than what will? _The little voice whispered again, and Takuya shook his head. He couldn'tjustgo rightup to Kouji and tell himhow it was he felt about him...that he felt more than just friendship. Would Kouji even _understand_? Feeling suddenly tired, Takuya felt his eyes starting to droop, but a rather demanding voice that seemed toocome outof nowhere, causing him to raise his eyes to the figure that was still advancing-very slowly-towards him.Walkingthrough the fire that was all around him-looking as though he were merely gliding through it...and suddenly, Takuya had a strange sense of De Ja Vu.

"Don't fall asleep Takuya Kambara, for if you do you might never come out of this pit alive." Takuya swallowed a couple of times, finally gettinghis voice to work.

"W-what? What do you mean by that?"

"Some have died here in this pit. I do not wish you to be one of them.I can help you get out of here if you'd let me help you."

"Who are you?"

"I am standing right before you, as I speak."

Takuya's head snapped up, and he saw the figure that had been approaching him was now directlyin front of him, and he stared open mouthed and wide-eyed at it.It...it looked like some kind of freakish monster...but...a cool freakish monster. There was really and truthfully no otherway he could describe what he saw in front of him. The monster had some wicked armor that covered a good portion of its body-it's upper chest and arms-there was padding on its elbows and shoulder blades, and the armor also encased the monster's lower legs. The symbols of flame and fire were etched into its arm and knee guards. It was a truly wicked sight. Takuya couldn't help but stare in pureaweat what stood before him, and even stretched out his arm as if he could touch it. But when he tried too, his hand went right through it, and his eyes opened even wider.

"What the...?"

"I am yours if you claim me. But you must hurry." The figure before him started to ever so slowly disintegrate, and Takuya could feel the heat starting to seep through the barrier that must've been somehow created around him.

"No...I...how?" Takuya's mouth went dry once more,as he tried to figure out what to do. He was panicking. Then, suddenly as if out of nowhere his Detector flashed brightly, and Takuya grabbed a hold of it. Holdingit outin front of him, he suddenly understood what it was he was supposed to do. He wasn't sure how, but somehow, he just...knew.

"SPIRIT!"

* * *

Kouji had no idea where the Batsomon were taking him, but the one that was carrying him now had sunk it's claws sodeep into Kouji's shoulders,that now it's claws were soaked inhis blood. The dark-haired Digi Destined gave a low sigh...one that could be interpreted as pain, or sorrow. Pain, because of his aching shoulders (which, Kouji knew were going to hurt even more once he was finally released from the Batsomon's harsh grip), and sorrowover loosing Takuya..someone who hehad just started to consider a true friend. Something he hadn't had in avery long time now. 

_But did I really loose him? _Kouji thought miserably, as he allowed the Batsomonwho held him captive to continue its flight. _I did see him fall...but...? _The teen shook his head. NO one could survive a fall into a pit like that._no one_. Kouji sighedonce more,as the bat continued its flight, with the others behind it...

Kouji must've blacked out or something at one point during the Batsomon's journey, because when he finallywoke, he was in an ice cavern, and it was slightly chillier here than the fire pit had been-a total different change in climate. He was lying on his stomach, with his left arm trappedunderneath it and his right one stuck out in front of him. Kouji tried to sit up, and felt nothing but pain, which caused him to cry out as he remembered his bleeding shoulders from the Batsomon's claws.

Speaking of which...

_Where **are** the Batsomon?_ Kouji thought, as he managed to sit up fully and gentlyprobe his shoulders, hissing in pain as he did so. He needed to clean up the cuts and bandage them-problem was, was thathe didn't have any supplies with him, and at the moment there wasn't even any water around. In fact, now that Kouji was able toget an even better look around him,being more awake and alert, he saw that he was in some sort of icy prison with the bars made out of nothing but ice. As Kouji stood, he noticed that it was darker here in this cave, and remembered that Takuya's Detector had said that the Batsomon could easily adapt to any climate changes necessary. But it didn't help to explain how they got here. Or why they were here, or how far away they were nowfrom the fire pit...? Kouji had too many questions in his mind, and no one to answer them-it was starting to frustrate him. Gripping the icy prison bars, Kouji knew he had to figure a way out of here, he didn't even know if the Batsomon were still around...

* * *

Takuya ran, as fast as he could.well, actually he wasn't really even himself anymore, but the Fire Spirit Agunimon. It had been incredible when he had changed into his Spirit. He only wished nowthat Kouji, or anybody really had been their to see it with their own eyes. It made Takuya wonder if those other three kids that he and Kouji had seen on the platform way back at the train station earlier, on their journey herewere okay. 

_But first, I've got to find Kouji! _Takuya thought, wondering where the Batsomon could've taken him. With the Fire Spirit's help, Takuya had managed to get out of the fire pit, and back out into the open. But where to go from there, not even the spirit knew. Takuya sighed as he kept on running. He _had_ to find Kouji, but it wouldn't be the easiest thingto dobecause the Batsomon could fly. Which, gave them a big advantage since that meant that there were no tracks to follow. Suddenly, his Detector went haywire, and he grabbed it from its pouch as his (now) bright blue eyes opened wide.

"That's strange." He muttered. On the detector screen, there seemed to be some kind of map-and there were two dots. One was red, and the other was blue the blue dot was further away than the red dot. Takuya halted in his run, and saw that the red dot just sat there, blinking like the blue dot was doing.

"Wait a minute.is this.a map of where I am now?" If it was, then that meant that the red dot was his. Because it had stopped where he had stopped. Then that must mean...

"Kouji, hang on buddy I'm coming!" Filled with energy once more, and the desire to see Kouji again, Takuya took off at a faster speed than he had been going before. He _would_ see Kouji again, he wasn't going to loose his new found friend to the Batsomon, or to any other danger that would await them in the future...

Quick new end AN: UGH! This chapter **drove** me up the wall with all the revising that I had to do to it, that, and with everything that happened originally...ick. I hope all my other chapters revising wise go smoother than this one did! LOL! Anywho, more revising to come with other chapters! I tend to do the revising stuff mainly at work when it's slow so every once in awhile another chapter will be replaced! And once again apologies for any smushed words you find...

* * *

Responses To Reviewers: 

Kelly Q-you're awesome, I love your fics, and thanks for reviewing mine!

Ice Puppet-girl, life's all good! I hope this chapter that I put up will be a ray of sunshine in yours! don't worry, I'm just in a very hyper/weird mood today for some reason.-

Splash-OMG, OMG! Splash reviewed one of my fics! watches as author bounces around happily you have no idea what that meant to me, really.I LOVE all your fics.seriously, you're SUCH a good author! And I ALSO wanted to thank you for dubbing the Tamers movie that I found.it was so cool, and I'm sooooo happy that I found it and downloaded it.! I also love all your fanart too, it's so Kawaii! (Additional Note: LOL! I went overboard with this one, didn't I Splash? It's all good though, you know I still think you're an awesome writer, update soon girl!)

Silver Angel-wow, we've almost got the same name.- thankies for reviewing both chapters!

Jen Minamoto-uh, yeah, I suppose that the whole grammar thing is big for everybody these days.but to hell with it, I'm just having fun with writing this story! Hopefully my grammar will improve, no? - (Additional Note: See, see? **(points above)** I told you I'd improve my grammar! LOL...)

Dilly-Pickle

Hyper Pegesus: YOU CAN let go now you know..? okay, that's much better, this author can BREATHE! finally so here's another chapter. and this time don't double glomp me please.but I'm glad you're enjoying this fic all the same! Because I'm having fun writing it!

Anonymous.yes, its back up and running, and it's a nice long chapter...

Random Rockstar Hee-Chan

Kawaii Roxy Love the name girl!

Kaya Kydra: Wow, your review was sooo excellent made me fell all nice and happy inside! Just what a girl needs to read over again and again to get her butt moving and updating. .sniff, sniff there's someone out there who appreciates me. yeah, a whole bunch of someone's, go me! -

Misty Eyes: I know, I know hangs head over to the side but I kind of wanted Kouji to be a little OC here.but don't worry too much about that, because eventually when I have the two of them meet up with everyone else, Kouji goes back to his nice cold, little self.and the only time's he acts like the way he's acting now, is when he and Takuya are alone, not with the others. there's a method to my madness here. (Additional Note: That, and I've discovered that I like my Kouji uke...hehe...**winks. **So I guess that can cause for at least a little bit of OCness, ne?

Saya: sweat drops.;; girl, what did you do.eat to much sugar? Or did you just accidentally hit the review go button one too many times.heh.- -.anyway, thanks for reviewing, and here's the next chapter! this time, only hit the review button once okay? It works, it really does work when you just hit it once-trust me!

Bishonen4everAce: Hey, I like your name! It's unique.- Anyway, I wanted to do it from Takuya's point of view because he's a little bit more of an easier character to write from.you're right, Kouji's almost too mysterious at times. but hey, that's why we all love him! Besides, the Loner Boys are supposed to be mysterious, no? But anyway, I don't want to make anyone cry.especially my first reviewer! So hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, and keep on reading because it's going to get a lot more interesting as we go on.

Wow, that felt like a lot of people.(or at least it felt like it-) anyways, thanks guys for having the faith in me that I can actually do this plot.and chapter four will come out soon! Hopefully before the end of next week!


	4. Agunimon's Spirit Awakens part III

Disclaimer: The muses would like to remind everyone that Angel Spirit doesn't own Digimon, just the plot of the fic. The muses would also like to add, that it's not our fault if any words that are smushed together...

Author's Notes: Hehe...The Duskmon inspired chapter...LOL, now that everyone knows about it, I could talk about it...could being the word. However, I won't since most of you have probably seen it and want to reread this revised chapter ne? **(winks at everyone) **Ugh, I hate long boring and annoying days at work...(**sighs) **But, they make good for a day of revising huh? Anyway, yes I know that at this point in time that Kouji's uke...or at least I try to make him be uke, because an uke Kouji just makes my day! Though I've heard from other's that later on in the fic it's hard to tell which one is uke and which one isn't That, and I've also been told that Kouji's a bit OOC in some parts. Meh, I write it as I see him (and the others) for this fic, as it IS an AU...but there are some chapters and parts in this fic where he'll be in character, trust me on that! **Added note: I went ahead and re-edited this chapter, since I noticed some more things that were wrong with it...I'm hoping that the second time I upload it the words won't be all smushed together, and that there won't be any misspellings either...chapter 24 is currently in the works as we speak, and I hope to have it uploaded soon.**

Story Rating: PG-13

Author's Warnings: This fic contains slash/yaoi. If you're not a fan of male/male pairings, then feel free to hit the wonderful back button to the top left of your page there and run far, far away.

Time Setting: AU rewrite of season 04 with Takoujiness

**Different Journeys **

**Author: Angel Spirit**

**Chapter IV: Agunimon's Spirit Awakens (part III) **

Takuya had been running for a good couple of days now, hardly stopping for a break. But eventually, he had to stopto geta bearing of his surroundings...wherever the Batsomon had taken Kouji, they had gotten there rather fast. It would take him awhile to catch up to them, since they had the ability to fly and he did not. Though the extra speed that he had as Agunimon helped him greatly.

Sighing as he glanced down at his Detector, which stillshowed themap on the small screenthat Takuya needed to locate the raven-haired teen he had befriended, Takuya's eyes opened wide when he realized just how close that he actually was to Kouji...if his estimates were correct, he was now only just about a good half a day away. Taking a few deep breaths, Takuya started back on the trail he had been on quickening his pace as he went. If everything went the way Takuya wanted it to, he'd be seeing Kouji again by tomorrow morning...

* * *

Kouji must have dozed off again, because when he wokefor the second time in the icy prison he was being held in, the Batsomon were hanging from the ceiling right in front his cell. Staring at him with those eerieblood-red eyes of theirs.

It made Kouji shiver a little as he stared back at them. His bodyfelt stiff, and sore, wanting thewarmth that he was deprived of by being held here. The iciness of his prison cell didn't help him much at the moment, and if he moved his shoulders where the Batsomon had dug its claws into him, he could feel thepain that rode his upper bodyin fiery waves.

_Definitely not a good predicament to be in_, the dark haired teenthought, as he continued staring at the Batsomon. He wondered what plansthey had in store for him.

He shut his dark blue grayeyes briefly as the pain in his shoulders flared up again and the world startedto spinaround him. A part of him wished that Takuya-or anyone at this point in timereally-could be with him now. Stifling a moan, Kouji managed to open his eyes again as he heard the door of his prison cell beingthrownopen.

_What in the world...?_

What Kouji saw next, filled his mind with tauntingquestions...it _looked_ like one of the Batsomon...but it looked morelike an _evolved_ form of the Batsomon...was it all some kind of trickery? Kouji blinked just to make sure what he was seeing was real, and not some sort of hallucination. But, the Batsomon-like creature was still there staring a him...the same blood red eyes...there was the sound of a low rumbling, and then the creature actually spoke to him.

"You...are..._pathetic_."

Kouji winced a little, and then his face hardened..._no one_ called him pathetic and got away with it. In the end, Kouji would show him that _he_ was the pathetic one. Not him.

"I'll make you eat your own words..." Kouji whispered fiercely, and the creature before him threw his head back and laughed-it was a low, evil laugh and Kouji winced again, at the harsh tone that vibrated off the icy wallssurrounding them.

"You? You're only one...one of the beings that Cherubimon wants _dead _and vanished from this world."

Biting down hard on his lower lip, Kouji wondered what it was the Digimon before him was talking about. For a second, Kouji's hand went to his side, for the Detector...only to find thatit wasn't there anymore. With his eyes wide in astonishment at it's disappearance, he looked up andsaw that the evil Digimon held it in his right claw-like hand...and was now laughing at Kouji onceagain.

"Looking for this? I don't think so...did you _really_ think that we were _that_ stupid? We knew you could use this to defeat us...why would we let you keep such a _useful _device?" It hissed out.

Kouji's head felthis headache pound harder against his skull,as he tried to think of some kind of snide andwittyreply...all of his senses were now being effected from the horrible throbbing pain he felt. After a moment or so, he had one though he knew it probably wasn't the greatest comeback it would work and keep the Digimon before him busy. Hopefully too busy to think about hurting him anymore.

"What in the _hell _are you, and _why_ do you stink so _bad_?" Saying this, Kouji used the sleeve of his windbreaker to protect his nose. It was true...the Digimon _did_ have a foul odor about him. It made Kouji nauseated just _smelling_ it...he'd finally found a smellthat was worse than the perfume his awfulAunt wore.

Again, the rumblinglaughter came...this time from both the creature and the other Batsomon surrounding him. Kouji was starting to get annoyed...there was nothing funny about this. Not from his point of view anyway. _They_ weren't locked up in an ice cage freezing to death.

"_What am I? _Is that the best you can come up with Digi Destined? I thought that you would have done better than that child of light..."

Kouji raised an eyebrow at this. Who was he to call him the child of light? And whatinthe hell did that mean? The laughter died down as the Digimon suddenly seemed torealize, that Kouji didn't have any clue as to what he was talking about. He had yet to say anything about it, so they must have seen his questioning puzzlement in his eyes.

"I should've guessed..."

His voice rumbled, so low that Kouji almost didn't hear it.

"I asked a question, now you answer it!"

Kouji demanded, having hadenough of being toyed around with. The Digimon chuckled, and hid his detector away so that it was far beyond Kouji's reach...Kouji couldn't even see it anymore...and at the moment he didn't think he had the strengthleft to fight for it back either. His life at this point _really_ sucked.

"Very well...only if you'll answer one of mine."

Their eyes locked, and Kouji nodded slowly...it was a done deal. The Batsomon would tell him what he needed to know, and in turn he'd tell the Batsomon what _it _wanted to know.

"I am known as Vampmon...I'm an evolved form of the Batsomon...I am not the only Vampmon _here_...but I am the only one around for the present moment. And as to why I smell...I believe that you can figure that out for yourself." It seemed to be hiding back laughter as it's shoulders shook.

Kouji was tired of the riddles, tired of the games...what did he mean by his answer? Did it mean that there were others like himon the way?

_Probably,_ his mind thought bitterly as he tried to shift his position, and wished he hadn't as he cringed in pain. His shoulder's were really starting to bother him...and he wondered how deep the gash marks really _were_.

"Now, you answer _my_ question...where are the rest of you?" Kouji shook his head at the Vampmon

"I don't know...what do you mean by that?" The Vampmon clenched a clawed hand into a tight fist as Kouji gave a question back as an answer, instead of the reply that the evil Digimonwas demanding.

"It's a simple question boy...where are the REST OF YOU?"

"Rest of me? I don't _know_-!" He started to reply, but Kouji felt his mind numbing...the room was spinning again as he was roughly backhanded by the Vampmon...he felt a trickle of blood run down his face and he touched it gingerly. The Vampmon's claws must've hithimand scrapedhis skinwhen he'd smacked him.

"Let me phrase the question better so that it can get through your_ stupidity_ boy! _Where _are the other children like you who arrived here?" Kouji shook his head the best he could without having the world go black around him. It would do him no good to pass out now...but he wasn't sure that he could help himself. He felt drained...weak. And he hated that feeling.

"I...don't know." He whispered, feeling himself falling toward the darkness. There were noises among the Batsmon as they suddenly parted. When Kouji managed to find the strength to look up, he saw that more Vampmon had arrived...so his theory had been correct...there were at least five of them now, six counting thetallone standing before him. Kouji watched them wearily as black spots danced before his dark blue grayeyes.

"You all arrived at the same time, and yet you don't know where the other children are? What about the brunette that the Batsomon saw you with?"

Kouji's voice caught in his throat at this question...

_Takuya_...he squeezed his eyes shut at the thought of the brunette he'd befriended upon arriving here...

"He-he fell..." Kouji choked out, and there was a hushed conversation for a minute.

"Bring him."

The dark undertone voice of one of the other Vampmon commanded, and they started to move away from the prison cell...the Vampmon who had been questioning him waved a hand, and the ice melted enough so that the Vampmon could roughly grab him by his torn shoulders, causing Kouji to cryout loudlyin pain. Then, he knew no more...

* * *

It was twilight now...the stars were starting to come out, and there were dark clouds in the horizon where the sun hadfinallyset for the night.

"It looks like a storm iscoming..."

Takuya mused to himself as he finally reached the area where Kouji's dot had been so still for so long. When he looked at it again, he cursed softly...it had started to move once more.

"No!" He shouted out in protest.

It had taken him nearly two and a half days to get to where he was, and he was _so_ close...Kouji couldn't get any further away. Not if Takuya would have anything to do with it! Cursing again, he held his Detector in front of him as he started in the direction that the blue dot representing Kouji-indicated that he was moving toward.

At one point he had forgotten to watch where he was going, and he ran smack into a rock wall...

"Ow..."

Takuya mumbled, as he looked around his surroundings...taking a step back from the rock wallwhile he rubbed his sore nose. He saw that there was a cave built in high above...if he wanted to get to it, he'd have to climb upwards.Takuya sighed...he wasn't much of a climber-there was just something he didn't like about heights. Was it the fall he was afraid of if he slipped? There would be no one below to catch him-especially now.

"At least I'm still in spirit form..."

The goggle-head muttered. He hadn't transformed back to himself since leaving the fire pit-Agunimon gave him more energy...enough for him to have come this far without having to takeany resting breaks. And now it looked like he needed the Digimon's strength for the climb that he needed to make now.

"This is just _great_..._so_ not what I want to do!"

Even though he didn't _want_ to do it, Takuya knew that Kouji was in there...no, correction, he _was_ up there...somewhere in that cave. And Takuya had to climb the rock wall if he wanted to see him ever again.

"Here goes nothing..." He muttered unenthusiastically.

Steeling himself for the task, Takuya found a good hold and started the climb that would hopefully lead him straightto Kouji...

* * *

With a thud, Kouji felt himself being dropped to the ground, and it took all he could muster to _not _cry out in pain. What he'd give if Takuya were there with him...to tell him it would be alright...because at this point in time, Kouji was starting tothink that things _wouldn't_ be alright again.

When he didn't open his eyes, the Vampmon kicked him roughly in the ribs...and still, Kouji didn't cry out or open his eyes. He was _tired_...so tired...

"Wake up you _pathetic_ human..."

"Takuya..." Kouji whimpered, wanting nothing morethan to be away from this icy prison. Even though he hadn't been there for very long, he felt its coldness seeping into his heart...and it caused him to shiver-and soon he found that he couldn't stop.

"_Move_."

The Vampmon hissed, as it tried to force Kouji into a standing position, but Kouji made his body go as limp as possible...how did the Vampmon know thathe was stillawake and not unconscious already? With the way he was acting, any _normal_ being would figure that he was unconscious...but the Vampmon must've been stronger then what he had expected them to be.

"We just want to know where the other children are, how hard is that?" Another Vampmon whispered hoarsely.

"I...don't..._know_..."

Kouji hissed out through gritted teeth as he was forced to stand...and only then did he force himself to open his eyes. They were surrounding him on all sides, it was impossible for him to get away...even if he wanted to.

"We'll let Lord Cherubimon deal with this pathetic weakling!"

Another Vampmon, off to his right, insisted but the main Vampmon who had dealt with him earlier-and whowasnow holding him by the nape of his neck-shook it's head.

"If we let Lord Cherubimon deal with him it'll mean _all _of our deaths...including _his_...which, he can save now from misery if he tells us _where the other children are_..." It was obvious that all of the Vampmon were getting irritated from Kouji's non-responsive attitude. It made Kouji wonder just how far they'd all go to get an answer out of him.

Kouji bit down on his lip once more, hard enoughto draw blood this time and looked downat the ground. He didn't know, he really didn't know the answer to the Vampmon's persisting question...why didn't they believe him? He hadn't even rode on the same train as the 'other children' had. He'd only seen them with Takuya when they'd rode by that train station much earlier...

What did they want them all for anyway? So many questions, so little answers, so little _time_.

"If you don't tell us willingly, we'll find ways to _extract_ the information from you."

Another Vampmon declared, raising a claw...Kouji had had the feeling that this was going to happen and he winced at the movement; looking away as it's razor sharp claws came flying toward his body-only to feel nothing. When Kouji looked upagain in surprise, he saw the Vampmon holding him in place had saved him by easilyblocking the blow.

"No, we'll do it another way...but either way we'll get him to tell us where they are..."

* * *

It hadn't been an easy climb for him, and Takuya was panting for breath by the time he had finally managed to clamber over the top. Twice he had to stop because of his fear, and even though he was still Agunimon, he was also himself as well...and his fear didn't leave...it would always be there inside him no matter who he was. But a big part of him felt proud of himself, as he had conquered his fear...for now anyway. He was now lying belly down on the lip of the cave opening, looking down the length of the rock face that he had just climbed up.The brunettegulped, and sat up in a sitting position, standing a few seconds later as he felt a strong breeze in the air and glanced up above him towards the sky.

The clouds had come in, and the breeze was strong enough to carry the scent of rain...Takuya/Agunimon wrinkled his nose. He wasn't a big fan of rainy weather, he much preferred the sunshine. A reason why he hated the winter time at home...but it wasn't winter at home, it was Spring. Apparently though, it wasn't really Spring here-either that, or the Digital World didn't have seasons like Earth did. And _that_ was just plain weird.

Heading into the cave, Takuya got out his Detector that he had put away for the climb, and saw that Kouji's dot hadn't moved to far from where he was standing now...he was still relatively close. Takuya smiled and mentally cheered to himself...thinking of Kouji's reaction when he saw him...and then frowned a little as he hesitated in his step. When Kouji saw him he'd be seeing Agunimon, and not Takuya himself...would Kouji know that it was Takuya inside this Digimon Spirit?

There was only one way to find out.

"Hang on buddy..."

Takuya whispered, as he followed the dot resembling Kouji once more. He was only a few meters away, so close that Takuya could practically _feel_ him nearby. He wondered what Kouji's reaction would be when he would see that he _wasn't_ dead. And Takuya couldn't wait to tell him what had happened to him back in the fire pit.

The wanting and the need to see Kouji grew deep, and caused Takuya to move faster...and he realized that even though he was moving swiftly, there was no sound-his feet didn't crunch on the gravelly sand that was underneath him-and Takuya smiled. That would be a good advantage on his side-the enemy that had taken Kouji from him wouldn't hear him coming.

He was so close now his spirit could practically _smell_ the raven-haired teen...

And then he heard the scream...and he paused mid-stride...that scream...

_Kouji!_

Narrowing his eyes, Takuya put on a burst of speed, rounding a corner...and than he saw him. Surrounded by bat-like creatures, kneeling on the floor as heheld ontoa shoulder that was bleeding freely. Agunimon's eyes narrowed with pure hatred.

They had _hurt_ Kouji.

_His _Kouji.

They never heard or sawhim coming.

* * *

Kouji couldn't help the scream that tore through his throat...it hurt...oh gods it hurt...the moment that the lead Vampmon dug it's claws into the wound he had gotten earlier from the flight here, caused it to bleed again and Kouji held back tears. His shoulder was in pain, burning like fire again.

_Damn you_...

He swore in his mind, as his vision blurred for a moment while he clutched tightly at his wounded shoulder with his other hand, as they demanded once more of him to tell them where the other children were.Kouji swore again that he didn't know, and the Vampmon dug his long, sharpnails harder into his wounded shoulder preparing his claws to do the same to the other wound that was starting to heal...

Just when Kouji didn't think he could stand the pain much longer, the claws were ripped free from his shoulder, and Kouji slumped backward as he heard a long, loud snarl and his body tensed up as he heard it from right behind him. He squeezed his eyes tightly...was someone else here to hurt him as well, to try and get information out of him that he didn't have...?

He heard sounds of fighting, and again the snarl sounded, this time turning into more of a growing yell of determination. He heard the heavy feet of a Vampmon advancing toward him-realizing that he'd fallen on his side and was now lying on the ground,and opened his eyes warily to face it...only to see it get thrown backwards by another Digimon. But this Digimon was..._different_.

This Digimon reminded him of fire...warmth...Kouji smiled inwardly. Whoever this Digimon was, it was protecting him, trying to help him. _That_ much he knew.

When the Vampmon seemed to be all down and breathless, not stirring from their positions, the strange new Digimon came toward him and Kouji tensed as he tried to ease his hurting bodyaway.But the Digimon held out a hand and touched it lightly on his left shoulder-as Kouji was now holding the right one that had started to bleed again.

"Kouji..." The Digimon's soft voice murmured, almost apologetically.

Kouji's head snapped up as he looked into the new Digimon's eyes...there was something about them...he'd never seen that color of blue before, and they held a kindness and a determination within them that he had seen somewhere _before_.

"Ta-Takuya?" He choked out, wanting to believe it. But...Takuya was dead...he'd fallen into the fire pit, hadn't he?

The Digimon that was staring at him smiled-partially from relief as Kouji had quicklyfigured out who he was.

"The one and only!"

It replied cheerfully, and Kouji nearly collapsed then and there...Takuya...if the Digimon _was really_ somehow Takuya, knelt down and caught him gently. Keeping him from falling to the cold ground...

Warmth...Kouji felt warmth again.

"Are you okay?" Takuya asked softly, and Kouji somehow _knew_ that it _was_ Takuya inside that Digimon...somehow...Takuya's voice sounded a little warped, but Kouji recognized it all the same. Kouji nodded wearily.

"Y-yeah...I just want to get out of here..."

Kouji mumbled, feeling sleep claim him, but he didn't want to sleep...he wanted to ask questions. Like how Takuya survived that fall into the fire pit? He didn't honestly think that_anyone_ could survive a fall like that. And how was Takuya a Digimon now?

"That's what I've come here to do," Takuya answered. "But first, I've got some unfinished business I've got to-omph!"

Takuya had been smacked hard from behind by one of the Vampmon that had awoken, and he tumbled to the floor, letting go of Kouji who moaned in pain as Agunimon's body laid on top of him. Kouji saw Takuya's now-blue eyes narrow as he rolled off Kouji, placing himself in front of the danger as Kouji moved away. He wanted to help...he hated feeling weak.

_Somehow Takuya, I'll pay you back for this, I promise._ Kouji thought, before the fighting began again. Kouji didn't know that Takuya could fight...or maybe it wasn't really Takuya fighting at all, but the Digimon instead...the raven-haired teen shook his head. It was all so very confusing and he was finding it harder and harder to stay focused and awake.

"Fire Darts!"

Takuya hollered out as fire-in the form of darts-sprang up from the gray metal strapped around his wrists-looking toKouji that they were very sturdywrist guards. Kouji had wondered previously what they were for. The Vampmon cried out at the attack and after several rounds, had hit him and managed to shrink himback into a Batsomon. Then a light appeared around all of them, and the Digimon Takuya was grinning triumphantly.

"It's time for you to be Digitized!"

Taking out his black and red Detector, he pressed a button, and the light was gone...so were the Batsomon. Kouji heard the sound of metal hitting the floor...his own Detector. Takuya picked it up and walked toward him, handingthe blue and white Digivice tohim when he got to him. Kouji pocketed it thankfully, more than ready to leave.

"Ready to get out of here?"

Takuya asked as though reading his mind, and Kouji nodded as he tried to stand but slumped against the wall instead-breathing hard from the pain that flared up inside of him because of his injuries. Takuya's eyes narrowed again into tiny slits as he briefly examined Kouji's wounded shoulders...the claw marks that the Vampmon had left behind...they'd have to be cleaned and bandaged. Part of Takuya actually looked forward to doing that. It would give him a chance to get closer to Kouji.

"Need a little help?"

For a moment, Takuya saw Kouji hesitate at his question-it was plainly clear in his dark blue grayeyes that he didn't really want any help. But instead the teen nodded, and leaning against Takuya's Digimon Spirit for support the two made their way out of the cave, and out into the pouring down rain...Takuya's face fell. He hadn't been expecting that.

"Man..."

He looked down-wrong thing to do. Now he really didn't want to climb the rock wall back down, and how would Kouji do it wounded the way he was? It looked like Kouji was thinking the same thing, as he shivered in the cold rain and wind. Takuya thought for a few minutes, before shrugging hard...if he had gotten up here in the first place, then he could climb back down again...right? Besides, it was just a little fear, and everyone had a fear...this was just one of the few that Takuya had.

"Here..."

Takuya muttered as he slipped his legs over the side and looked at Kouji, still holding his bleeding shoulder, though it looked like the bleeding was at least starting to slow down.

"Hold onto me as I climb down, I can carry you piggy back style." Takuya suggested, voicing his thoughts.

Kouji had a stubborn look on his face at this suggestion and Takuya sighed.

"You're not going to be able to climb down this by yourself, it's to long of a climb, trust me I've done it already _once _to get up here!"

Kouji still made no move, and instead just stared at him, making Takuya feel like some kind of fish in a bowl on exhibit.

"What?" He asked, rolling his eyes in annoyance. He wanted to get out of here and get Kouji to safety where he could clean and bandage his wounds. They were starting to look infected, and that scared Takuya a little bit.

"H-how can I be sure that you're _really _Takuya?"

Kouji finally asked softly, his eyes not showing any emotion that Takuya could read. Takuya felt like smacking his forehead...how could he have forgotten? He was _still_ Agunimon...and he'd need to be Agunimon in order to do the climb down...Kouji would have to trust him, but how could he get him to do so?

Takuya thought about it for a moment...and then suddenly he had his answer.

"Remember coming to this world on the train?"

Kouji looked into Agunimon's blue eyes with a look of confusion and pain.

"When the train stopped so suddenly, and we fell on top of each other? I didn't know you'd be that ticklish..."

Kouji smiled a small smile, one that could be read of pure relief, and Takuya even found himself grinning. It seemed like he'd just gained Kouji's trust once again.

"Now are we going to get out of here or what?"

Kouji nodded and sat so that his legs were swung over the edge as well...grabbing hold of the shoulders of Takuya's Digimon form as the two of them started down...

"So you really _are_ Takuya then?" Kouji asked the strange Digimon before him, and he nodded.

"Yes..."

They'd finished the climb quickly,and were finally back on the bottom, taking a quick breather before moving on-at Takuya's expense. Kouji could finally see how tired he really was.

"But who are you _now_?" He asked, continuing his round of questions, for Kouji felt confused by the whole situation that was presented before him.

"Agunimon...the fire spirit."

_**"Child of light..." **_Was _w_hat the Vampmon had called him before Takuya had showed up. It made Kouji wonder if the Vampmon had known something about _himself_ that Kouji didn't...if Takuya had a fire spirit...

Kouji didn't get time to finish his thought, as abright light suddenly glowed around Agunimon for a brief moment, and when it faded awayKouji saw Takuya himself...and smiled wryly at him. Suddenly even though he felt tired he wanted to hug the brunette...so hug him he did ignoring the pain in his shoulders and completely throwing Takuya off guard. But Takuya quickly returned his hug, savoring the closeness that they shared.

"How?"

"Well, when I fell into the fire pit, I got my fire spirit...and the fire spirit protected me."

Takuya looked sheepish for a moment, making Kouji wonder what _really_ happened. But, he didn't want to push it-instead, he wanted to thank Agunimon for bringing Takuya back...he'd have to remember to do that next time. Kouji let out a breath and swayed a little as Takuya steadied him, looking at him in concern.

"We need to check out those claw marks..."

He said, motioning with one hand toward Kouji's shoulders, and Kouji nodded. He flinched a little then, as Takuya moved one hand to trace the scratch on his cheek that one of the Vampmon had given him during their questioning-he'd have to remember to tell Takuya about that later.

"I think I saw a river not far from here when I was coming to rescue you, and also some shelter we can use to wait out the storm...think you can last till' then?"

Takuya asked, and Kouji nodded, as Takuya removed his warm hand. Why was it that Kouji felt so cold suddenly? Colder than before...

They started moving, and reached the river minutes later. It had only been a fifteen minute walk, and already Kouji's strength was feeling sapped.

There was a covered area there by the river, where the thickness of the tree branches managed to take in most of the rain, leaving a relatively dry spot...it wasn't perfect, but the two didn't have much more to go on.

"Sit."

Takuya ordered Kouji, who at first, looked like he was going to refuse. The log Takuya was pointing to was damp, and he was still cold...and now soaked to the bone...but then again, Takuya was too. Sighing, he sat miserably. Takuya took a look at his face and almost laughed-but snorted out loud instead, making Kouji glance irritably at him...Takuya shrugged hopelessly.

"Sorry, the look on your face is priceless. How about this...the moment we get those cuts on your shoulders looked at and cleaned up, than the sooner we can go find a drier shelter?" Takuya asked, and Kouji groaned.

"Whatever." He finally replied softly afterwards,and Takuya sighed...if that was the way he was going to be...

"Take off your shirt." Kouji raised an eyebrow, and looked at Takuya as though he were crazy and Takuya sighed with exasperation.

"In order for me to look at those slash marks, I need you to take off your shirt!"

With a blush, Kouji slowly lifted up his shirt, and gasped as the shirt lifted off the gashes...it hurt...no, it burned...Takuya helped him slide it off, and than examined the marks as he prodded them gently. Kouji gasped in pain at one point,darkness starting to seep into his vision...and Takuya stopped, looking thoughtful.

"I need to use your bandanna." Kouji looked at him, horrifed and thought for surethat Takuya had lost his mind.

_Not_ his precious bandanna!

It was one of the only items he had with him to keep his hair tied back and away from his face.

"No way." He muttered, denying the brunette in front of him access to the precious cloth.

"We need _something_ to clean up your cuts with! Your bandanna is going to be the best bet, and besides, it's already wet anyway!"

Kouji sighed in agreement and allowed Takuya to take off the blue and brown bandanna; his face holding a triumphant smirk...

_And why_ did I want Takuya's company again? Kouji thought wryly, as Takuya cleaned his bandanna in the water for a moment, and than brought it back, wringing it out. No matter how gentle Takuya tried to be, Kouji still hissed and writhed in pain.

"Sorry."

Takuya whispered apologetically, and Kouji said nothing for a moment as his eyes watered...more from the pain than anything else.

"Why...why did you come after me?"

He finallyasked, the question being one of the many that was on his mind at the moment (that and he wanted something to help keep his mind from all the pain that he was in), and Takuya stopped for a second, not sure what to say. He chewed on his lower lip, looking deep in thought, until he had what he believed was a worthy enough answer for Kouji's sudden question.

"B-because I think of you as a friend...a really good, andtrue honest friend."

Kouji looked away as Takuya replied. He hadn't been expecting that kind of answer...in fact, he had been thinking that Takuya would tell him that he'd only saved him because he felt obligated.

"Kouji?"

The raven-haired teen started out of his thoughts, looking into Takuya's deep brown eyes...he definitely liked them better brown than blue. Blue just didn't suit him.

"Yeah?"

"I think we need to get out of the rain..."

Takuya muttered something inaudible at that moment, looking down to hide the small blush that was creeping up on his cheeks. He _really _didn't want Kouji seeing that...

"I think you're right." Kouji put his T-shirt back on, which was still wet but at the moment he didn't really care.

"By the way, how _did_ you manage tofind me?" Kouji asked, yet another question he'd been wondering about since Takuya had come after him.

"I used the Detector...when I came out of the fire pit as Agunimon, it went on the fritz for a minute, and than suddenly I realized that it had brought up a map onto the screen. It had two dots on it-one was me, and the spirit quickly figured out that one was you...the rest is history."

Takuya said with a shrug, and Kouji nodded as he stood feeling slightly less dizzy than before, but still tired. He realized that all he wanted to do was sleep...with Takuya's arms around him protecting him from any danger. Kouji fought a blush at that thought and asked a question instead to keep his mind away from thoughts of Takuya.

"Is the map still there?" Looking down at his detector at Kouji's question, Takuya sighed and shook his head.

"No, it's gone now..."

"I wonder how close shelter is?"

Kouji mused out loud, as he looked around. All he wanted to do at the moment was find somewhere dry, get himself warm, and fall into a deep sleep...apparently Takuya had the same thoughts for as his eyes scanned the area they were in, he thought he saw a glint of something up ahead.

"Hey, let's go check that out..."

Kouji had seen it too, and he nodded as they rushed toward it, both hoping that whatever it was they saw, would be some kind of shelter for the coming night...

TBC

AN: I think hands down, that this is actually one of my _favorite_ chapters out of this fic...I'm not sure why. There's just something about it that I totally enjoy and this chapter was a lot of fun to revise actuall. It feels more whole now! **(Grins)** Meh, I debated about whether or not to delete the sneak peek for the next chapter that I'd put up but...I also realize that there are still some newbies around here checking out this fic, so I'll leave it for their enjoyment. **(Winks at everyone)** Anywhozits, I'm off to go and revise the next chapter...I think that I'll have as much fun with that one as I did with this one! All the Takoujiness...**(sighs happily) **Makes me want to actually write more...see, sometimes it's good for one to go through some of their own stuff...bwahahahahahahahahaha...

* * *

**Sneaky Peek Of Next Chapter (OR, you COULD just be lazy and go hit the next chapter button...LOL!):**

"Kouji?"

Takuya shivered in the darkness...he didn't know why it felt so cold, so dark...Kouji stirred in his restless sleep, knowing that the fire they'd managed to build with the dry firewood they'd found had long since gone out. The chill he felt increasing as he roused, looking into Takuya's dark brown eyes...he looked restless too...

"Yeah?"

He whispered in the darkness as he found himself curling up into a tight ball, trying to keep the cold from seeping into his zipped up lightweight jacket...at least he _had_ a jacket...all Takuya had was the red over shirt...

"I-I think it might've been a bad idea to come in here..."

Takuya whimpered a little as he licked his lips, suddenly feeling thirsty and uncomfortable. A part of him wanted to flee-go back outside in the pouring down rain.

"I know what you mean, but at the moment it's the driest place around, and I for one don't want to have to go back out in the rain...I'll take what I can get."

Kouji meant it, but deep down inside he was feeling the way Takuya was feeling-the need to flee this place...something kept him grounded here though, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He saw Takuya start shivering-harder...so hard that he noticed it and sat up, stretching a bit.

"Cold?" He asked, as Takuya nodded.

"I-it's so dark in here..."

He murmured, not liking it at all. He suddenly felt very self-conscious in this place. He needed out...it felt like the walls were starting to fall in on him...

He heard the sound of a zipper being undone, and looked over as Kouji shrugged out of the windbreaker that he had. It had long since dried since their escapade in the storm outside.

Takuya's eyes widened a little bit and he continued to shiver as Kouji scooted much closer to him, and offered to share the coat...the brunette hesitated a moment, before nodding and clambering over the rocks to join him, and they sat there huddled together, sharing Kouji's coat, listening to the wind howling outside...like wolves on the hunt...

WANT to see more? DYING to see more? Hate that I'm torturing you with this little scene? You know the only way for me to get the next chapter out faster with this scene included...REVIEW! (LOL, or since the next chapter is out since this is a revised edition chapter, just go read that...but...reviews are still, always nice...)-


	5. Haunted by Light

Disclaimer: The muses would like to remind everyone that Angel Spirit doesn't own Digimon, just the plot of the fic. The muses would _also_ like to remind readers that we're not responsible for any of the words that appeared to be smushed together...it's not our fault!

Author's Notes: LOL, for those of you who have read this chapter before, yes I _did_ delete the ranting and raving about that certain episode where a certain blonde had a certain brunette laying his head in her lap...**(sighs) **It just...wasn't worth the space. This fic will have Takoujiness one hundred percent of the way throughout it, and that part won't even be _mentioned_ in this fic, save for the AN here, which by the way I should point out that that episode was what inspired this chapter and for me to continue on with this fic, which is now nearly 24 chapters long...**(grins madly) **I don't even think I'm halfway through with it yet! **(calculates total chapters in her head) **Nope, I don't think so...Heh, chapter 24 is in the works but since I'm bored at work with not so much to do and free time in front of a computer before me, I decided to work in editing/revising Different Journey's, so don't be surprised if you guys find several chapters from this fic in your inboxes for the next few days or so...if you want to reread the chapters to see what I've changed, feel free to...not much has been changed except for the grammatical errors that readers have pointed out to me in reviews as well as any spelling mistakes...you guys might see a few _small_ scene additions here and there but not _to_ many so that if you don't reread it, it won't be too big of a deal! Anyway, on with the story shall we?

Story Rating: PG13

Couples/Pairings: Takuya/Kouji, and heavy hints of Junpei/Izumi

**Different Journeys**

**Author: Angel Spirit **

**Chapter 5-Haunted by Light**

"Takuya?" Takuya was quiet while they had been heading into the cave that they had found, and Kouji wanted to know why. He glanced behind him to see the brunette biting his lower lip, looking as though he was contemplating something.

"Yo, Earth to Takuya!" Kouji shouted, and snapped his fingers twice in front of Takuya's face, causing the teen to blink a couple of times, and shake his head as he cleared out any thoughts that had been running through his mind.

"Sorry Kouji..." He murmured apologetically as his eyes met Kouji's own inquiring orbs.

"Care to tell me what's on your mind?" Kouji whispered, and Takuya shook his head and offered Kouji a small smile instead.

"Nah, its okay...nothing bad, I was...just...hoping that this would be the last cave that we'd have to spendour nights in." At this, Kouji chuckled, remembering why Takuya probably didn't want to spend anymore nights in anymore caves.

"Yeah, I know _exactly _what you mean." Kouji replied sincerely, and then noticed that Takuya was shivering...a lot.The dark haired teen felt like smacking himself along the head...he was such a baka...here he was with his wind breaker already off, and a dry T-shirt on-as the windbreaker had caught most of the rain, so that now only his pants were still soaking wet from the downpour that still went on outside. But Takuya didn't have any kind of coat or anything like he did...just his red short sleeved over shirt, and the yellow shirt with the black design underneath-both of which,were soaking wet and clinged to his equally wet skin. No wonder why Takuya was shivering.

Once they entered the cave, and they'd gone in deep enough so that the storm no longer had any effect, Kouji ordered Takuya to take off both of his shirts. He smirked, as the brunette gave him the same look that Kouji knew he had given Takuya earlier, when Takuya himself had asked him to take off his own yellow and blue rimmed shirt-merely so that the brunette could clean his cuts.

"I only want you to take it off so you can get dry! You're shivering like crazy! And if you continue to wear those wet shirts, you're just going to get colder." Kouji pointed out to the brunette in a light scold, and crossed his arms over his chest afterwardslooking quitedefiantly at the shivering Takuya.

"If _you_ won't take them off, _I'll_ do it for you..." At Kouji's mischievously knowing glance, Takuya gulped-knowing that he wasn't going to win this argument-and started to peel off both ofhis wet shirts. His hands were shaking so bad from the cold,that he was having a little bit of trouble peeling off the yellow shirt and in the end Kouji had to help him.

But he was still shivering...however, he had the feeling it wasn't _quite_ from the cold that chilled his body. He could always be wrong though...but, Takuya had the slightest inkling that one of the reasons why he shivered just then was because of Kouji's cool hands that had touched his chest as he'd helped him take off his shirt. There was something about the feeling of Kouji's hands that made Takuya long for him to touch him again...it felt..._right._

"Let's see if we can't find anything in this place to make a fire with..." Takuya nodded as Kouji spoke his thoughts out loud, concern filling him..._why_ wasn't he able to get warm? Why was he feeling so cold...? Kouji looked fine...he didn't seem to be as cold as he was...

The deeper they went into the cave, the darker it got until the two boys couldn't even see their hands in front of their faces...Takuya ended up stumbling, landing against Kouji-who caught him and steadied himself against the wall so neither of them would fall. Kouji winced as his wound pulled, and if Takuya had been able to see through the inky darkness, he would've seen Kouji frown afterwards. When he touched Takuya's skin, it still felt cold...icy to the touch. He was now starting to worry about the brunette...now was _not_ a good time for _either_ of them to get sick. They had no medical attention out here in the Digital World. They'd be helpless...and from what Kouji had seen of this world so far, that was _not_ a good place to be.

"I can hardly see." Takuya complained, trying not to allow his teeth to shiver together...Kouji had decided to keep an arm around him after helping him regain his balance from slipping earlier, and Takuya had to admit that the extra body heat was definitely nice. He now had the spirit of fire, Agunimon...at the moment though, he felt far from it. And his legs were starting to get tired from walking. Kouji wouldn't admit it, but he was starting to feel the same way...cold and tired.

As if sensing his tiredness, the cave's darkness started to lighten up a bit as Kouji halted before another opening, debating on whether or not they should go through it. When he glanced at Takuya's still shivering form though, he quickly made his mind up. Still keeping his arm around the brunette and making sure that his coat was still tied around his waist, Kouji led the way.

When they walked through the opening, which was really no more than a slit in the cave wall, Kouji immediately felt a wave of heat greet them. As the two teenagers made it out into the open, they saw that they must've entered the end of the cave-or what looked to be the end of the cave. There was sand covering the ground, giving off a beach-like scenery...but what caught both boys attention was the fire that roared a little ways to the left, closer down to the water...which, was the next thing their eyes landed on.

Water...water that led _out_. They could see an opening quite a ways a way-at least a couple of miles anyway. It wasn't really close enough so that the storm had any effect on their position, and yet the water was calm...almost _to_ calm. Kouji eyed it briefly before leading Takuya over to the fire...noticing that his shivering was lessening and _that, _Kouji decided, was a good thing.

Laying his windbreaker and Takuya's shirts out to dry by the fire, he sat down next to Takuya on the fallen log that was so rightfully placed before the warm flames. For awhile they didn't speak, lost in their own thoughts as the fire slowly started to die down. That was when Takuya's stomach rumbled and Takuya blushed madly.

"Sorry...been awhile since I've really ate anything..." The brunette allowed his voice to trail off, andKouji had to grin at that.

"Same here, but at least we're warm and considerably safe at the moment. Nothing _bad_ has happened."

"Yet...nothing bad has happened _yet_. Wait a minute, what am I talking about, something bad _has_ _already _happened!" Takuya added, with a glance at Kouji's healing shoulder wounds and Kouji sighed, not quite knowing what to say to that statement of truth.

"We really don't need any more bad things to happen then. How about that?" Kouji replied with, rephrasing what he'd just said, and Takuya nodded...suddenly feeling rather exhausted. He felt his eyes starting to slowly close. Maybe it was from spirit evolving and staying in his spirit form for so long, or maybe it was because his stomach was feeling so empty. He wasn't sure why he felt so tired.

He didn't feel his own body slump forward, as his heavy eyes finally closed in slumber, and he didn't feel Kouji catch him as he nearly fell face first into the sand. Kouji chuckled softly,as he held the brunette upright for a second.

"Takuya..." He whispered, brushing back the brunette's hair as a couple of locks had fallen out of his cap that he wore, with the goggles still miraculously placed on top. Taking off the hat and goggles, Kouji leaned Takuyaup against the log they had been sitting on as he decided to wonder around the area they had found and see if he could find any blankets-or better yet, food...

As he searched around the cavern that they had found, Kouji came to realize that he wasn't having _any_ luck once so ever. Just when he was about ready to give up, he saw a bright white light shining through one of the cracks in the rock wall ahead of him. It was close by the water-close enough so that his sneakers got wetas he moved towards it. There was something about the light thatbeckoned him to move closer.

He felt like he had to touch it.

The crack in the wall he found near the light, was big enough for him to slip through. As he went inside of it he felt warmth spread through his body driving away the rest of the chill. It gave him the idea that maybe he should bring Takuya in here...it would warm him up both inside and out as it was doing for Kouji right then.

Remembering why he had been exploring the cavern in the first place, Kouji made to turn around. But, something inside of him decided to go forward instead. A part of him wanted to know _exactly _what was causing the light source. He just _had _to...and Kouji found that he couldn't stop himself.

Suddenly he felt like he was dreaming though...the outside world wasn't there anymore. He didn't remember _why_ he had come into the cavern in the first place...in fact, he couldn't remember much anymore. What was going on?

He could remember that there was something...no, maybe someone...important to him outside of the light source that surrounded him. But the light was too warm, too inviting and so Kouji continued moving forward to where the light was the brightest.

Eventually he found the center of the light. Someone wastrapped inside ice...or something _like _ice...was what was creating the light. Kouji felt his eyes harden in determination. He _had _to get that someone out...

Kouji moved closer to the ice cage, remembering his own imprisonment in one a mere few hours ago, to find that there was a gorgeous woman inside it...but the closer he looked at her, the more he saw that she just wasn't a woman. She was a _digimon_...she had wings-large, angel-like wings.

There was a small tiara at the top of her head, sparkling from the diamonds embedded in it,and she had long dark golden spun hair. Her face held a gentle look to it and her eyes were closed with sleep. Kouji imagined that they had to either be green or blue eyes...hefound himselfhypnotized by her. The only thought on his mind was how to free her. A part of him believed that she was the reason why he had come into the cave.

"Wow..." He whispered, moving his hand forward to touch the glass and quite suddenly without warning the Digimon's eyes snapped open and he started, moving backwards. She stared at him, as she captured his eyes in her own...they were a dark emerald green like he'd thought they would be but what he was a little frightened of was that he saw _no_ _light_ in her eyes. They were dull, a big void. Lifeless…it kind of scared him that someone could make their eyes look like that.

Still though, he couldn't find a way out of her eyes. He was falling into them, falling further and further...

Suddenly he was remembering something that happened a long time ago...a memory with his mother...her eyes. Her eyes had been that color of green, he had gotten his eye color from his father. Strange, how this Digital Woman resembled his own mother in that sense, very strange indeed. As quickly as he had become immersed in her eyes, he snapped out of his trance and shook his head to clear it feeling foolish. He removed his hand and stepped away from the ice cage that the woman was trapped in.

As soon as Kouji had moved away though, the woman's eyes filled with sorrow. While he was moving away though, he could've sworn that he heard her voicesoundinside his head.

'_You are the only one who can help me...'_

Kouji's dark blue gray eyes opened wide and he shook his head in denial, while he continued to move his way backwards...back towards where he had firstentered through the crack, the urgency to leave this place behind him growing more. Just as strong as the urge to enter it had been. It filled him with _dread_...

'_Please help me...'_

Again she begged, and again Kouji shook his head. Her dark emerald eyes narrowed, this time no longer filling with sorrow butnow bright with anger. The bright white light that had once been so warm to Kouji when he had entered suddenly felt so cold...like ice...like the ice that surrounded the woman, keeping her trapped in here. And suddenly Kouji started to wonder if there was a _reason_ why she was trapped in that ice.

_It was a mistake to come in here...I should have never come. _Kouji thought suddenly, and almostas though she could read his mind, the woman suddenly managed to shake her head.

'_Not a mistake...you were **meant** to find me...you are meant to **free** me...free my **soul**...I've been trapped here for so long...it's time for me to pass this light onto someone else...'_

"Yeah, well it's not gonna be me!" Kouji hollered, and backed fully out of the cavern shaking his head the entire time, and shaking from head to foot as well. He knew he could never go back in there again.

Once he was back out into the open, Kouji allowed himself a moment to breath deeply, calming himself.

_I won't go back into that area...I** refuse**..._

Was it because of fear? Kouji didn't know...he didn't know why he didn't want to go back in there. A small voice whispered in the back of his mind told him that he _would_ go back in there. But he knew that he wouldn't. The next day if the storm was over with he'd leave...with...Takuya! He had suddenly forgotten about the brunette when he had gone through the slit in the wall. Stumbling over the rocks and the water-getting his sneakers wet even more-he made his way back over to Takuya, who was awake andstaring intothe fire.At least he wasn't shivering anymore,and this brought a smile to Kouji's face. The smile helped take away some of the foreboding feeling that was trying to take over him from his visit into the other cave.

"I woke up and you weren't here...I looked for you and you were nowhere...where'd you go?" Takuya asked softly, and Kouji sighed shaking his head.

"You'd never believe me even if I told you." As he said this, Takuya offered him a smug smile.

"Try me..." he whispered, "this place is pretty weird...this world I mean. Come on, if I can turn into a Digimon I think I can pretty much believe anything and everything defined as 'weird' now." He said,using hisfingers to create little quotation marks at weird and thatcausedKouji tosmile again. Takuya _did _have a goodpoint.

"Yeah, well...let's just say I think I took a trip to the twilight zone or something." Takuya snorted at Kouji's brief and short explanation.

"Whatever...just don't disappear on me again, okay?"

"What, don't like being alone?" Kouji asked in a teasing voice as Takuya shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest...he had put his shirts back on, as he had found them dry by the fire when he had woken.

"Nah, I just don't want to loose you again that's all...I mean, what fun would I have if I have to keep on going after you and saving your butt?" Kouji was now sitting next to Takuya on the log, and smacked him lightly across the back of his head. Takuya winced and rubbed it, but stuck his tongue out playfully into Kouji's direction.

"Whatever..." was all Kouji could reply to this, and rolled his eyes. _That_ was when Takuya's stomach grumbled again a little louder this time though, and Kouji laughed.

"I can tell what's on _your_ mind!" Kouji exclaimed as Takuya made a face.

"Yeah, well...I haven't had anything to eat in awhile...and neither have you." He pointed out, and Kouji had to admit that he _was_ starting to feel hungry. Suddenly Koujiremembered the whole reason why he had gone searching around the cavern they were in, in the first place. To find food...well, he hadn't found any-and he wasn'tabout ready to gooff exploring by himselfin this cave again. He felt a yawn coming on and his eyes start to droop. It was all well and fine that Takuya was awake now, but now _he_ himself was starting to feel sleep claim him.

Sensing this, Takuya found himself laughing merrily.

"Want to sleep?" He manged to ask, andKouji nodded and suddenly felt the urge to be close to Takuya. He scooted even closer to the brunette, who at first looked quite surprised, and than pleased as Kouji cuddled up next to him. Takuya placed an arm over his shoulders as Kouji buried his head into Takuya's chest...eventually he fell asleep. Even though Takuya himself had fallen asleep earlier and should've felt awake, he felt his own eyes start to close awhile after Kouji had fallen asleep . Takuya saw Kouji's breathing pattern change from normal to a slow one. Using his light brown eyes to sweep through the cavern, making sure that they were the only ones inside, Takuya shrugged.

_Hey, if Kouji can go off and completely disappear, leaving me asleep, what's the harm if we both sleep?_ He thought to himself, as his eyes fell shut even more so that they were almost closed completely.

_Besides, it's comfortable here like this..._ Smiling to himself at the thought, Takuya allowed his eyes to close fully as his mind slipped into the darkness...and soon, he too was fast asleep in the world of dreams...

* * *

Something caused him to waken, and Takuya wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep.

Takuya stirred quickly, opening his dark brown eyes and blinking them a few times before he sat up and stretched, yawning.

Takuya shivered in the darkness...he didn't know why it felt so cold again and why it was so dark. Darker than before...Kouji also stirred, his sleep growing restless, knowing somehow in his sleep riddled mind that the fire they had found upon entering the cave had gone out. The chill he felt increased as he roused, looking into Takuya's dark brown eyes...he looked restless too...

"Kouji?"

"Yeah?"

He whispered in the darkness as he found himself curling up into a tight ball, trying to keep the cold from seeping into his zipped up lightweight jacket...at least he _had_ a jacket...all Takuya had was the red over shirt.

"I-I think it might've been a bad idea to come in here..."

Takuya whimpered a little as he quietly admitted this, and he licked his lips, suddenly feeling thirsty and uncomfortable. A part of him wanted to flee-go back outside even if it meant that they'd be in the pouring down rain.

"I know what you mean, but at the moment it's the driest place around, and I for one don't want to _have_ to go back out in the rain...I think that I'll take what I can get at the moment." Koujiwhispered, trying to be brave...and having the feeling that he was slowly failing at the act.

Takuyameant it, that he felt that it had been a bad idea to come in here...but deep down inside he was feeling the way Takuya was feeling-the need to flee this place...something kept him grounded here though, but he couldn't figure out what it was...was it that woman he had found, trapped in ice? Was she the reason why he stayed here? He saw thatTakuya hadstarted shivering again, this time much harder...so hard that he noticed it and sat up, stretching a bit.

"Cold?" He asked, as Takuya nodded.

"I-it's so dark in here..."

The brunette murmured, not liking it at all. He suddenly felt very self-conscious in this place. He needed out...it felt like the walls were starting to fall in on him...

He heard the sound of a zipper being undone, and looked over as Kouji shrugged out of the windbreaker that he had. It had long since dried since their escapade in the storm outside.

Takuya's eyes widened a little bit and he continued to shiver as Kouji scooted closer to him again, and offered to share the coat...the brunette hesitated a moment, before nodding, and they sat there huddled together, sharing Kouji's coat, listening to the wind howling outside...like wolves on the hunt...

It was weird though, because when they'd first found the cavern they couldn't _hear_ the wind...and now they could...not only could they heard the wind, but the water that acted and looked like a great big lake was starting to roughen up as well. And Kouji decided it was time to move from where they were...if the waves got high enough it could sweep away the embankment they were on.

"Time to go..." Takuya murmured, sensing what Kouji was thinking and stood, Kouji not to far behind. Takuya was still shivering and so Kouji let him have his coat...he wasn't feeling cold at the moment...until he remembered the woman trapped in ice. What if the water got into the slit in the rocks, and filled up the area she was trapped in? Even though she was trapped in ice...but what if it wasn't ice at all? What if she drowned...could she drown?

And suddenly without thinking, Kouji had started to head toward the slit, a concerned Takuya calling out after him, wondering what he was doing.

"We've got to save her!" Was all Kouji could holler back, the wind getting stronger...as though it was warning them not to continue any further.

"Save _who_?" Takuya exclaimed as he had caught up with the raven haired teen. Kouji shook his head, unable to explain anything ofwhat he had seen earlier that night.

"Did you find someone else in this cave and not tell me?" Kouji nodded at Takuya's next question, having trouble finding the slit now that there was no light to guide him...for some reason it wasn't shining with lightanymore.

"Yeah...earlier, when I'd gone off and disappeared...the reason why you couldn't find me is because I don't think I was really here...if that makes any sense." He muttered, and Takuya shook his head.

"No, that doesn't make any sense to me once so ever but...still..." Before Takuya could finish his sentence, Kouji had found the slit. He'd been clambering over the rocks, and Takuya had followed him. They were wet up to their knees, because the water had risen...the storm must've gotten worse outside to be affecting this place-or so Kouji assumed.

"I never realized this was here." Takuya admitted, and Kouji shook his head.

"I didn't either, not until I found it while you were sleeping. But there's a woman inside who needs our help...problem is that she's trapped in ice or something. It _looks_ like ice, but it doesn't _feel_ like ice." Kouji said, trying to explain what he had seen to Takuya but Takuya just shrugged, realizing that he'd probably see what Kouji was talking about soon enough.

"Lead the way." Takuya urged, and Kouji nodded as he slid through the crack, Takuya following him.

'_Help me...please...you're the only one, you **must** help me...you and **only** you...'_

As Kouji heard the woman's voice inside his head this time, he realized it didn't scare him as much as it had the first time. All Kouji did was nod, wanting to tell her that he was coming...but what he didn't know was that what she was really doing, was trying towarn him. As Takuya followed him, Kouji suddenly felt danger. And _that_ was when the cave started to shake, it shook so hard that rocks started to fall all around them...all Kouji heard was a cry of pain from Takuya as he felt something hard slam into him...and than he felt the darkness close onto him as he fell into unconsciousness...

TBC...

Ending note: Chapter revised on 08/27/05


	6. Light's Destiny

Disclaimer: The muses would like to remind everyone, that Angel Spirit doesn't own Digimon, just the plot of the fic. We'd also like to say that it's not our fault for any words that're smushed together, and that the AN in this chapter is a bit spoilerish if you haven't seen all of season 04, feel free to skip it!

Author's Notes: If anyone can tell me how to stop the words from smushing together when I upload chapter's, that'd be awesome. I think that I've justabout tried every trick in the book! So when I wrote thischapter, I said that my favorite eps were the Duskmon ones, when Kouichi first appears...I correct myself!My favorite eps from 04 are actually two of them...the first one being the Ice Devimon ep. Yes, his voice was_horribly _dubbedand I know we all much prefer the dubvoice that was used in season 03 (why they couldn't keep thatguy who dubbed Ice Devimon's voice so well there is beyond me, but it's their choice**watches as authoress shrugs**) BUT, besides that there are quite a few Takouji hints in there...esp when Takuya's pretty much holding Kouji in his arms after Ice Devimon's attack...**(grins sheepishly...hey, I'm a Takouji nut, it can't be helped!)**My other favorite episode is actuallyone of the last battles that they have with Cherubimon...where Takuya fallsoff a cliff and Kouji has to pull him up...Takuya comes up and practically falls right on top of Kouji...**(sighs dreamily and realizes she's still writing the author's note and snaps back to attention) **So yes, I stand corrected on my favorite eps...hey, ithappens. And I'll have so much fun later on in this fic when that portion comes up...bwahahahahahahahahahaha...(sorry if I spoiled it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet...**blushes**)

Story Rating: PG13

Warning: This fic contains slash/yaoi, I suggest if you're not a fan of male/male pairings that you should hit the wonderful back button to the top left of your page and run far, far away...

Character Pairings: Takuya/Kouji (main) and eventually strong Izumi/Junpei hints.

**_Bold Italics means that Kouji's talking mind to mind with the Digiwomon from the last chapter-_**you'll find out who she is in this chapter.

_Regular italics means that it's the Digiwomon speaking to Kouji through her mind…_(it'll make sense when you read this chapter, I promise!)

**Different Journeys**

**Author: Angel Spirit**

**Chapter 6: Light's Destiny **

It was dark...and cold...he felt like he was _floating_...until he opened his eyes after feeling something wet trickle down his face. Using the sleeve of his windbreaker to wipe it away, he gasped a little as he realized he must've hit his head against a rock or something because he was _bleeding_.

Opening his eyes further, he groaned and used his elbows to sit up and look around. Whatever had decided to attack them had caved in the walls of the cave that they were in...and it had all happened because Kouji couldn't leave that stupid Digiwomon behind...he didn't know a thing about her, and yet he felt _something_ strange from her...but it was all his fault that he and Takuya were stuck in her and..._Takuya_.

Remembering the scream of pain that he had heard before blacking out, Kouji gingerly stood up, making sure that nothing was broken. The only damage to himself that he knew of so far was the cut that was still bleeding, and as Kouji felt for it he located it just above his eyebrow...it wasn't very deep-or so he thought when he probed it with a couple of his fingers, slightly hissing in pain as he did so. At the moment though all he cared about was what had happened to Takuya...he could take care of his cut later.

When he didn't see the brunette right away he panicked a little...and than he heard a small groan off to his right and saw Takuya lying trapped underneath a bunch of rocks that had tumble down during the cave in. They were right on top of him, covering his legs so that Takuya was only visible from waist forward. Withhis heard pounding, Kouji rushed over to the Goggle-Head and immediately fell to his knees checking for a pulse, and than feeling a little silly for doing so...he had just groaned, hadn't he? But better to check anyway. After finding a pulse-steady but a little weak-Kouji sighed in relief.

"Takuya...come on...snap out of it..."

He muttered, gently brushing aside some strands of dark brown hair that had fallen into Takuya's face. It took Kouji a moment to realize that Takuya didn't actually _have _the hat or the goggles on that he had been wearing since upon their arrival...and when he looked around for them, he found them lying a few feet away. It was obvious that they had fallen off of Takuya's head during the cave in.

Leaving Takuya for a second, Kouji went to retrieve the brunette's lost items, only to look up as he was doing so and see that they had landed _right in front_ of the Digiwomon. Kouji snarled at her, feeling like it was her fault for being there...if she wasn't there in the first place, he would've never come in here...and Takuya wouldn't be trapped like he was now.

Clutching Takuya's hat tightly in his hands, he picked up the goggles after allowing them to slide down his arm and went to move back to Takuya, who was slowly stirring back to consciousness, when he heard the Digiwomon speak into his mind once more.

'_I warned you...now it's too late...' _She said, following it with a heavy sigh, and Kouji turned around, face laced heavily with anger and hatred toward her.

"You warned me of absolutely _NOTHING_!" He snarled, and for a moment the look in her eyes seemed startled...but it faded away almost as soon as it had appeared.

'_I **did** warn you...I warned you that only you could come in here to rescue me...it was fire's presence that set him off, leaving you both trapped in here with me forever.' _Kouji seethed for a few seconds...forever...she made it sound so _final_.

"Yeah, well we're not going to be stuck down here forever, so you can _forget_ that idea." The Digiwomon sighed sadly at Kouji's rebelliousness.

_'You're a stubborn one, aren't you? The only way you could get out of here with your loved one is if you take what is minethat I am more than willing to **give** to you.' _Kouji shook his head vehemently and started to walk back to where Takuya was trapped.

"NO."

_'Why do you deny my gift? It is your destiny to take it from me, to **free** me.' _

"Sorry lady, but I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore!"

_'I'm afraid that you don't have much of a choice...you **are** the keeper of light...I was only holding it, protecting it,until you got here...' _

"You stay away from me." Kouji hissed, kneeling down to Takuya as he was opening his dark browneyes then.

_'I don't think we have much of a choice of that request.'_ Was it just his own imagination, or did the Digiwomon's voice seem to change into one of anger and determination...and suddenly Kouji felt afraid.

"Leave us alone..." He muttered as Takuya looked at him strangely, wondering who he was talking to-before crying out in pain as the rock on top of him shifted weight. He bit his lower lip, perspiring a little from the pain that ebbed throughout his whole entire body...he felt like he was slowly being crushed...

"Takuya, are you alright?" Kouji asked, eyes wide and full of concern as Takuya shook his head.

"I-I don't know...it hurts Kouji...get me out of here!" Kouji stood and brought his right hand into a tight fist of anger...he _wanted_ to get Takuya out of there, he just didn't know _how_.

_'The only way to get your loved one out is by taking what is **mine**, what should now rightfully be **yours**.' _

_'**NO WAY! First of all I don't love him, and second of all I'm not taking what's yours!' **_

He was surprised that he said this through his mind instead of voicing his thoughts out loud and making it sound like he was crazy, wondering if it had worked-apparently it had...somehow, this woman had created a mind-link with him...it was kind of weird having someone else's voice thoughts in your head.

_'Are you sure you're not in love with him? Absolutely **sure**?' _Kouji, startledby the sudden question,thought about this whilechewing a little on his lower lip..._did_ he love Takuya? One glance down at the brunette caused his heart to throb with worry about him being in pain, and soften at the mere sight of him at the same time...was that love? How did you _know_ if you truly loved someone?

"Kouji...? What's going on?" Takuya looked confused, and Kouji didn't blame him...he was a little confused himself still as he slowly tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together in his mind...this Digiwomon obviously wanted him to take something of hers...but _what_ was it?

"I...I'm not sure...it's that woman trapped in the ice...she...she can talk to me through my mind, and I can respond back to her...she...she wants me to take something from her...she says that it's the only way I can getthe both of usout of here safely." As Kouji mumbled this, he realized suddenly how stupid it sounded, but before Takuya could say anything, the rock shifted again and he groaned in pain...Kouji felt his heart pound as he knelt down and reached for Takuya's hand, feeling Takuya squeeze it hard. Hard enough to make Kouji wince at the sudden pressure.

_I've got to get you out of this mess Takuya...you saved my life once earlier and I think the time has come back to repay the favor to you. _Kouji thought, knowing what had to be done as he squeezed Takuya's hand back just as hard to reassure him and then stood, facing the Digiwomon. Takuya's eyes opened wide.

"Kouji...you're not actually going to...you-you can't! This is _crazy_!" Koujilowered hiseyes a little, so that he was looking at the groundand let out a soft sigh of sadness.

"I know it is...but I hate seeing you in this kind of pain." Takuya offered a small smile.

"Hey buddy, I can live through this...after I get out of here of course...I'll probably just get out of here with a couple of bruises, no need to worry about me!" Kouji snorted.

"I _am_ worried about you...you really think I can lift all that rock?" Realizing that Kouji probably _couldn't_ lift it all, Takuya's small smile fell and he tried to shift his legs underneath the rock, but only ended up groaning in pain...it felt like a dozen needles were pricking into his legs anytime he even _tried_ to move...the weight of the rocks were to great.

"I know what I have to do." Kouji told Takuya firmly, his face set in determination. He wouldn't be talked out of his decision.

_Question is, am I brave enough to do it? What was there to be afraid of? _Plenty was the answer to that. Somehow, with his first interaction with the Digimon that inhabited this world, he wasn't to fond of them-at the moment. Could that all change though? He didn't really think thatthis Digiwomon wanted to hurt him. He stood and walked toward her ice cage ever so slowly, contemplating something as he moved to stand before her once more.

"You know, I know that you know who _I_ am, _but_...who are you to me?" Kouji asked seriously, and sworn that if she _could_, the Digiwomon could've smiled-and besides, he was getting sick of calling her that. He knew from his own experience so far that the Digimon had actual names. Time to find out what hers was.

_'I was wondering when you would ask me that light keeper. I am Angewomon...I was given the light to protect it until the light keeper-you-showed up to take it from me and defeat the evil that has imprisoned me here...only then can I be set free...' _

"What kind of evil?"

_'The evil that trapped you and your friend here." _Again Kouji had the feeling that if she could smile, she would and he scowled at her.

_'**How do you know...that...?' **_

_'That you have feelings for the fire keeper stronger then simple friendship? It shows...in your eyes on your face when you look at him...it **is** love...you just haven't realized that yet...and unless if you **do** realize it **soon** and tell him what you feel you will loose him to another.' _

Kouji's face set into a look of determination. _Somehow_, he had to tell Takuya how he really felt about him...but who was this other? Would this person try to come in between him and Takuya? Soon...? Or far into the future?

_'**I'm afraid I don't understand...I...I don't want to loose him...' **_

_'I know you don't want to loose him light keeper-' _

_'**STOP CALLING ME THAT!' **_

_'Sorry...Kouji...but, you **will** loose him...and loose him you can **not**...you have to establish your grounds with him before you catch up to the others.' _

_**'Others? ****Do you mean the others that the Vampmon was talking about to me when he was asking me about the other children? There are other children in this world, aren't there? Besides Takuya and myself...' **_

In his mind, Angewomon nodded.

_'Yes, there are...and you **must** trust me, you **must** free me...' _

_**'And how do I do that?' **_

_'Only by concurring your worst fear possible can you ever free me...you must prove that you are worthy to keep the light.' _

**_'Worthy? Why do I have to prove myself worthy when you just said I was earlier?' _**

_'It is time...no more questions...do you wish to save the one you love or not?' _

Again, in his mind Angewomon smiled-but it seemed to be a smile of cruelty to Kouji. He glanced again over at Takuya, whose face was still contorted in pain and confusion.

"Kouji...what's going on?"

Kouji shook his head at Takuya's question...he couldn't tell Takuya what was going to happen in the next few minutes. If he did, he knew the brunette would object completely. He faced Angewomon once more.

_'**Alright...alright, I'm ready-but...I'll do it only if you stop calling him my lover.' **_Kouji told her through his mind, pointing a thumb over toward Takuya who was now thoroughly and utterly confused...why wasn't Kouji answering his questions, and _what_ was going on? To him it looked as though Kouji was somehow communicating with that Digiwomon. And deep inside Takuya, he didn't like it...not one bit. He tried to struggle out from underneath the rock mound he was trapped underneath, but it only shifted again and caused him to cry out in pain...when he looked at Kouji after, he thought he saw a look of deep concern in his dark blue grayeyes. _What_ was going on? Takuya felt so helpless in this situation...if he wasn't trapped underneath all this mess he would Digivolve and get them both out

_"It is not your time now." _The voice-the female voice that he had heard once before-came from his Detector. It was still a few feet away from him, but he could hear the voice none the less.

"What do you mean it's not my time?" Takuya groaned, keeping one eye on his Detector and one eye on Kouji-he gasped as Kouji started to walk directly toward the ice cage that the Digiwomon was held in.

_"Time will tell you...but it's not time yet...you will see..." _And with that, the voice vanished and the light from his Detector died down. Once it had, Takuya heard a scream of pain...and glanced up realizing that it was Kouji that had screamed-the dark haired teen whom Takuya's heartwas slowly falling for had placed his hand against the ice cage...and was now engulfed in a globe of darkness. Takuya couldn't see Kouji at all, and this caused him to panic.

"NO!" He yelled, trying once again to wiggle out from underneath the avalanche of rocks surrounding him, but still did not succeed. He had tears in his eyes...he had lost Kouji once...and he wasn't going to loose him again! He looked from the dark orb that Kouji was trapped in and for the first time since being trapped in his position, looked right into the Digiwomon's eyes...and gasped as he heard another voice-this time in _his_ mind...and it wasn't the same voice from the Detector he had heard moments ago.

_'Do not worry so...if he is worthy he will be alright...he will concur his fear and everything will be as it should be...' _

"What fear? What're you talking about!"

He heard the Digiwomon sigh sadly.

_'If he wishes to take what is rightfully his from me, he must concur his fear...whatever it is...' _

"Who are you to do this to him!" Takuya demanded, his eyes never leaving that of the Digiwomon's.

_'I am the guardian of light...the light that I guard is Kouji's to keep...if he can show me that indeed he is the true keeper...hence, the darkness...it'll show him his greatest fear. He must concur it in order to become the keeper of light. And you asked who I was...since I told him I might as well tell you as well, Fire Keeper-I am Angewomon.' _

"Angewomon?" Takuya had been wondering what the wings had been for...was she some kind of Angel Digimon? Apparently so...

"So there's...nothing...I can do for him?" Takuya stammered, as Kouji cried out once more,and in his mind he saw Angewomon nod.

_'Yes...nothing you can do can help him...he is on his own from here on out I'm afraid...I am sorry.' _

Takuya sighed in remorse at Angewomon's answer,and continued to stare hard at the darkness surrounding Kouji as though if he stared hard enough he could see Kouji once more.

"Kouji..." He muttered, feeling something tighten in his chest as he prayed that his friend would make it out...or was Kouji more than a friend now?

_Kouji__ felt very strange...like he was being held into place by something..._

_When he opened his eyes, he saw that the darkness was holding him down. Entwining itself around him like wild vines. He felt as though they were crushing him...a dark gray shadow moved toward him, glowing dimly at first and then started to brighten the closer it got to him. He tried to close his eyes again, but he found that he couldn't...there was something about that bright gray light that scared him...scared him so bad he didn't want to have anything to do with it. But he couldn't move away from it...not with the vines of darkness holding him there, trapped...he suddenly knew how Angewomon felt after all those years of being in the ice cage..._

_Kouji__ suddenly felt very cold...he managed to close his eyes...a flash of light he could see from his closed eyelids...and than he heard a scream..._

Opening his eyes again, Kouji gasped and turned around a couple of different times to make sure what was happening was really real...he was back in the cave that Angewomon was trapped in...but...it was different. Different because when he glanced over to where the avalanche of rocks had fallen on top of Takuya, he saw that the brunette looked a little worse for wear...he was bleeding in several places, and his breath was coming out in short gasps...

Rushing over to him, he saw that Takuya's eyes were open-but just barely...he was having a hard time breathing. When he saw Kouji, he grinned a little bit, his cracked lip bleeding a little more as he did so.

"I-I'm sorry..." He coughed, and Kouji shook his head at Takuya's apology.

"This isn't your fault...it's _my_ fault...I shouldn't have come back in here!"

"You said you had to save her...and this time I just don't think that I can help you." Takuya gave Kouji atiny,wry smile.

"But hey, it was fun while it lasted...right...?" The brunette breathed out, and Kouji suddenly felt tears coming into his eyes...he rarely _ever cried_. Yet here he was getting ready to...he could feel the tears slowly slipping from his eyes, unable to contain them. Takuya smiled sadly up at him and gave a small cough and gasped for breath afterward.

"I-I'm sorry...I really am...but...I've got something to tell you...I...I..." For a second, Takuya closed his eyes and Kouji panicked.

"TAKUYA! NO!" But it hadn't happened yet...he...hadn't left him yet...

"I...love..." Before Takuya could finish what he was trying to tell him, his eyes closed and he left Kouji forever...Kouji felt frantically for a pulse, but felt none. He felt anger welling up inside of him, and he stood, face masked in one of pain, sorrow, and anger...he clenched his hands into fists in front of him, and shook his head.

"No...No...this can't be happening...NO!"

As Takuya heard Kouji scream in the darkness again-this time louder than before-Takuya gasped and struggled some more...but no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't get out from underneath the rubble...tears came into his eyes. He glanced up at Angewomon, feeling hatred toward the Angel Digimon.

"Why are you doing this!" He demanded, finishing it off with a cough as air escaped his lungs as he breathed in the dust leftover from theavalanche...but it smelled..._different._

_'He will beat his fear in time...give him time...' _

As she said this in his mind, Takuya suddenly smelled the stink that he had smelled earlier when the cave had collapsed on them. He heard Angewomon gasp-this time in fear.

_'No! Not now, not when he's so close!' _

"Who is it?"

_'It's...the one who wishes me to call him 'Master' but I refuse...and that is why he has trapped me here...as long as I refuse to call him such a thing he can not take the light from me.' _

"The light...you said something about that before...you don't want him to take the light away from you because it belongs to Kouji, right?" She nodded.

_'Correct little one...you are smart for a human...'_ Takuya's lips curled up in distaste.

"I'm no ordinary human!" He sneered, and she somewhat apologized to him.

_'I'm sorry, I know...but at the moment that's what you are...nothing but a human. You are unable to Digivolve into a Digimon this time around, because Kouji must prove his worth by himself.' _

"Yeah, well...I hope he proves it soon..." Takuya grumbled, holding his breath against the smell...man, whatever was making the stench smelled _real bad_...and it was only coming closer.

"I won't let this happen! I will **NOT!** Takuya's NOT DEAD...this is just a DREAM...a NIGHTMARE...he's safe and sound..." Suddenly, Kouji remembered all that had happened before this. Was _this_ the fear that Angewomon had been talking about? Was loosing Takuya his greatest fear of all? Even though he'd been through so much in his life, with so many things that could be his worst fear...but this _had_ to be it. He had to concur this...and he had a feeling that he had little time to do so.

"NO! This isn't happening! The Takuya _I_ know would _never_ give in so easily to death! He's alive and...even though he's trapped underneath all that rubble, he's _well_...he has yet to give up on me and I WON'T GIVE UP ON HIM! I **LOVE** HIM!" He suddenly bellowed out, and things _slowly_ started to vanish around him.

As soon as Kouji realized this, his own heart nearly stopped-was this why Angewomon made him do this? So he could truly realize what his own heart felt toward the brunette he had been travelling with since they entered this strange world? It _had_ to be...and he was going todefeat this newestfear, and get back to the one he loved so he could _tell him_.

"I don't care what you throw at me now...I can defeat _any fear_...I **know** Takuya loves me back...because I love him so much..." As Kouji stated this over and over again, he saw a shining light surround him...it was bright and warm, and suddenly the grayness that had attached itself to him when he had first woken up in the darkness left...the dark vines recoiled and let him go and he felt himself drop to his knees, shivering and sweating a little at the excursion of it all...he had done it. He knew he had...

When a hand was placed on his shoulder, he looked up into the bright green eyes of Angewomon.

"Thank you." She said in a strong, sincere voice, and reached up and undid a clasp that belonged to a smallsilver chain that hung around her neck. Attached to it was a small, glittering diamon that looked like a tear drop.

"I do believe that this now belongs to you...use it wisely...and it will help you in return." Angewomon smiled at him and bowed to him as she redid the clasp so that the necklace now hung around his neck. When she backed away, Kouji held thediamond in his hand, so he could look at it, a questioning look in hisdark blue gray eyes. He looked up at Angewomon, who just smiled.

"It is yours to keep...Light Keeper...yours to use...use it now and go tell the one you love how much you truly care for him...only your love can keep him safe." Kouji nodded and bowed his head as he stood. The diamond that hung on the chain suddenly glowed...but when it glowed it glowed a brilliant bright white light...and Kouji felt the darkness around him slowly disappear-and in it's place, he saw what he needed to get him and Takuya out of here...his spirit.

Holding out his Detector, he somehow felt a powerful surge inside of him as his spirit came flying toward him...

"SPIRIT!"

Takuya was finding it hard to breath. He kept on having to hold his breath against the smell...

"What...stinks...so...bad?" He choked out and looked up at Angewomon, who shrugged...wait a minute...she shrugged...but she hadn't moved since he and Kouji had gotten in here because of the ice cage surrounding her...blocking any form of movement she could make, holding her _frozen_.

It was then, that Takuya realized that the darkness that had surrounded Kouji the moment he had touched the ice imprisoning Angewomon was slowly but surelyfading away into nothingness...andinstead, abright white light filled the room.

Wondering what was going on, Takuya squinted his eyes as he saw Kouji digivolve...a smile upon his lips...so _that_ was what the voice on his Detector meant when it wasn't his time. It wasn't his turn to be a hero...it was Kouji's.

At least Kouji's going to get what he wants...and that's to repay me for saving his life before... Takuya thought, wondering if this was the way it was going to be between the two of them as long as they were in the Digital World...could it be that after Kouji saved Takuya's life, it would be Takuya to save Kouji's once again? Only time could tell.

_You know, I'm getting really sick of the word 'time'._ Takuya thought, as he watched as the bright light sent all the darkness away and Kouji was there in the middle of it all...but he wasn't really Kouji anymore-he was now a Digimon...like the way Takuya had been when he was Agunimon, but _different_. And as the darkness melted away, so did the ice that contained Angewomon...she was freed.

"Thank you Lobomon...Kouji...without you I would have never felt this freedom that you give me now." Kouji...or now Lobomon as Angewomon had called him...nodded at Angewomon and glanced back over at Takuya, who was still stuck but had long since stopped struggling and was now staring up at Kouji with awe.

"Ready to get out of here?" Kouji growled in a low voice, and Takuya nodded. He knew he could trust Lobomon-he knew that Lobomon was Kouji. Somehow he could still hear Kouji's voice coming from within the Digimon as their two voices intermingled.

"Am I ever..." Takuya replied honestly, and Lobomon-Kouji-chuckled.

"Sure you are..." He grinned down at Takuya and was moving toward him to help him...when suddenly the Digimon who had created the big stinking smell from earlierappeared out of nowhere and decided to attack...sending more rocks and boulders everywhere...if Lobomon hadn't been so close to Takuya, Takuya's whole body would've vanished under the rock slide. Instead though, Kouji had sprinted forward and positioned himself over Takuya, to protect him. Takuya gasped for air and glanced up at Kouji with a look of thanks. Kouji nodded from within Lobomon.

"We need to talk when this is all over." Kouji murmured, so that only Takuya could hear. Widening his eyes as he wondered what it was that Kouji wanted to talk about, Takuya nodded a little, his vision had started to spin...all he wanted to do was get out of this stinking cave...literally...

"SHOW YOURSELF!" Lobomon demanded, asAngewomon looking around for the one who had wanted her to call 'master'. All he was greeted with was a low growl that echoed off the crumblingwalls.

"He's here...I know he is..." Angewomon muttered...and Kouji suddenly felt the urge to fight. He knew the only way they could all get out of here was if this guy-this Digimon-was defeated once and for all.

"Protect Takuya." Koujimuttered toward the now-free Angewomon, who nodded and hovered close by Takuya, who was grinding his teeth in pain, trying to hide it from Kouji. He had enough on his mind, but quite suddenly Takuya was sure that he had broken something...or at least had a cracked rib...

Again Lobomon demanded the evil Digimon to show itself...and this time it did as Lobomon ordered, and the room stunk even more than before as all three occupants gasped at the sight of Angewomon's captive.

"You! This is all _your_ fault..." Kouji spat out, feeling a furious hatredtoward the evil Digimon well up inside him as he rushed forward, weapon in hand...

**TBC**

Ending Note: Chapter revised on 08/27/05-I think I'm on a roll here! LOL! Yes, I deleted the lyrics from here...**(sighs dismally) **I do still have the original copy though...so I guess if you guys want the lyric version of it, email me and I'll see what I can do.


	7. For the Love of Takuya

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon...never have, never will. (If I did own Digimon, all the goggle-heads would be paired up with the loner boys i.e.: Takuya/Kouji, or Tai/Matt...as that has yet to happen...well, obviously then it's not mine...:P)  
  
Author's Note: Okay, if there is *one* awesome movie that you guys go and see this summer you've *got* to make it be Pirates of the Carribean.it's *really* well done, I for one was really impressed with it, for I went and saw it tonight, and let me tell you the really crappy day that I had was worth it, being able to see Orlando Bloom again on the big screen tonight.(happy sigh.he's my *fav* actor.so cute.^-^) the sword fighting in there is just *awesome* and the graphics and everything.okay, okay, I'll stop rambling about Pirates of the Carribean now and go onto more important stuff.like.my next chapter of this fic!  
  
I ALWAYS keep my promises and I promised in the last author's note from chapter 7 that this would be out tonight, so here it is.(you guys owe me one big time because I'm staying up a little later than what I wanted to finish this, and I have to get my wisdom teeth taken out tomorrow.-_-;; but I wanted to get this done and out before that happened.) and just to let all you happy readers know a LOT of Takouji fluffness ahead.^_~ And also if there are ANY and I do mean ANY Zoey fans out there, you might want to be cautious here for awhile because I don't like her.not at all.so there's going to be Zoey bashing in this chapter BIG TIME (toward the end anyway) and also in some future chapters there will probably be some Zoey bashing as well.so, just a fair warning to any one of you who might be reading this who like Zoey (gags).-_-;; don't flame me for the bashing, I've done my duty and warned you.don't worry though, the bashing around with Zoey will only be for a few chapters, until she realizes she can't have either Takuya or Kouji.:p Oh, and I'm letting the cat out of the bag on the villain here (if you haven't figured it out already) it is Raremon, but I ended up making up some more attacks for him, so if they don't sound normal, that's why.one attack for me just wasn't enough for what I wanted to work with.  
  
Also, PLEASE go and read the chapter 7 authors note.it DOES pertain to this fic, and any help on that front would be AWESOME.and speaking of awesome, you guys really do rock, because this fic now has over 100 reviews.I couldn't believe it.I still can't believe it.and it's because of you guys- my fabulous wonderful readers-who made it go OVER a hundred, it makes me feel good that you guys are enjoying reading this as much as I enjoy writing this.unfortunately I *don't* have a sneak peak here for ya at the end of this chapter but I promise to get the next chapter out soon.so I made this one a little on the long side for all you guys to enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ^_~  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
WARNING: If you've managed to get this far without realizing that this story contains slash/yaoi and you don't like it, I'm impressed...really, I am! :P So if you don't like Yaoi I suggest you hit the back button...otherwise if this story has grown on you as it has so many other readers, do feel free to continue on!  
  
Couples: Takuya/Kouji, and later JP/Zoey  
  
Last Chapter: Takuya ended up getting caught in the avalanche of rocks when the entrance to the cave exploded, and is now trapped. Kouji finds out that he's the only one who can save Takuya...and according to Angewomon he must face his deepest fear in order to gain from her what is supposed to be rightfully his. Unfortunately for Kouji, his worst fear was loosing Takuya...making him realize that he truly does have more than just friendship feelings for the brunette-he concurred his fear to receive the gift of light from Angewomon to turn into Lobomon...and just in time too, because Angewomon's captive has finally come out of the darkness, and Kouji's ready for a fight...  
  
Different Journeys  
  
Author: Silent Angel  
  
Chapter 8: For the Love of Takuya  
  
"Come on out and fight like a mon!" Kouji-now Lobomon-hollered, hand held in front of him in tight fists of anger. The stench was growing so bad...it smelled like...like...  
  
He didn't know actually how to explain what it really smelled like. Risking a quick glance over at Takuya, he felt a deep sense of worry for him...the stench was really getting to the brunette as he was looking like he was ready to gag on it any minute.  
  
Kouji thought as he turned toward the darker part of the cave, squinting his eyes, trying to see the villain. Angewomon was trying to work on freeing Takuya, but her efforts were powerless as no matter how many rocks she managed to lift, it still wasn't enough. Still though, Kouji was thankful for her efforts...all he had to do to get them out of here was defeat whatever was causing the stench.  
  
"SHOW YOURSELF YOU COWARD!" As Lobomon's angry, jeering voice echoed through the cave, a loud ominous roar could be heard from the depths of it, causing Angewomon and Takuya to flinch at the brutal noise. Kouji didn't flinch, but instead got himself into a fighting position.  
  
As the stench grew so bad, making Kouji feel like he could barely breath in the air around him, the villain made his appearance, causing Angewomon to gasp.  
  
"Raremon..." She said, and than shuddered as she pinched her nose with two of her fingers, as Takuya had done the same thing, upon holding his breath.  
  
Takuya and Kouji both thought at the same time, without knowing it.  
  
"Who's Raremon?" Kouji asked, taking in short breaths...unfortunately his senses had somewhat strengthened with becoming Lobomon and now his sense of smell was stronger than ever...and this foul stench was truly getting to him...it reminded him of the smell of rotten sewer garbage...but ten times worse. He wanted to defeat this Raremon and get it done and over with as quickly as possible.  
  
"Raremon's the one who's held me for so long. His powerful stench is only one of the few forces that he's got on his side...his main attack is the Breathe of Decay...be careful Lobomon!" Angewomon cried out, as the fumes grew even stronger.  
  
"I'm sick of this...it's time to end this foul play! Lobo Kendo!" Lobomon darted forward, looking powerful as ever...just as Raremon was ready to attack.  
  
"Breathe of Decay..." As he hissed this, mouth wide open, acidic breath filled the room, and he swiped a claw at Lobomon, causing the Light Digimon to fall back a little. He heard Takuya coughing from behind him, and his determination reigned strong.  
  
He was about to attack again, when Angewomon called out to him.  
  
"Lobomon...leave him to me...I can weaken him for you...now you need to concentrate on getting Takuya out..." As Lobomon hesitated, Angewomon came forward and started to glow brightly. Lobomon decided to let her do what needed to be done, and focused his attention on Takuya, who was glancing up at him with watery eyes.  
  
"Man...can we...get out of here yet?" Lobomon chuckled and than coughed at the fumes.  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"Promise me one thing first." Takuya demanded as Lobomon was glancing over the rocks, trying to decide how best to remove his friend from underneath them all.  
  
"What?"  
  
"That we're not going to spend another night in another cave for a very long time..." Kouji grinned.  
  
"Sure thing Takuya...I definitely agree with you on that one!" Takuya gave him a weak thumbs up, as Lobomon had managed to find a way to free him.  
  
"Takuya, cover your head..." Lobomon growled at him, and Takuya did as he was told, covering his head and neck with his arms, protecting himself from even more rock fall. He glanced over at Angewomon, who was doing her best to keep Raremon at bay...he had to admit, she was a pretty spectacular warrior...being what she was anyway.  
  
"Arrows of light!" She called out as arrows-glowing with the same bright light that was surrounding Angewomon-came out, launching themselves at Raremon, who growled.  
  
"Hey...are you gonna get me out of here or what?" Takuya gasped, and Kouji nodded as he glanced once more at the rock slide and used his Kendo sticks at the exact mark. Rocks flew in all direction, and Lobomon had to cover his face with one arm to protect himself...Takuya, who had seen what Lobomon was going to do, was prepared and as soon as he felt the rocks blast into a dozen pieces, managed to get himself clear...so that he was now free.  
  
Breathing rapidly, Takuya brought up a hand to wipe the sweat away from his brow as Lobomon looked down at him, smiling.  
  
"Are you alright?" He asked, giving the brunette a look over and frowned...there was a long gash down Takuya's left leg, and his pants were torn a little at the left knee. All Takuya did though was give him a thumbs up.  
  
"Now that I'm out of there I'm definitely alright!" Lobomon's smile finally reached his eyes, but he reminded himself that he'd have to check that wound on Takuya's leg before the two of them journeyed much farther from the cave.  
  
"I'm done with this fight..." They heard the deep rumbling voice of Raremon growl out, as he raised himself to his full toxic height, his dark eyes fixed angrily upon Angewomon, who gave Lobomon an apologetic look.  
  
"I'm sorry...I tried to hold him off...it's...it's going to be up to you now..." Only then did the wolfish Digimon realize how beat up Angewomon truly looked. He had been so immersed in getting Takuya free from the rock slide, that he hadn't really been keeping an eye on the battle behind him. Now he was greatly thankful for the Angel Digimon.  
  
"Poisoned Waste!" As he called out his attack, opening his mouth once more tiny darts came barreling out-and they were all aimed for Angewomon. They hit their target, and Angewomon gasped-Lobomon's eyes opened wide, and he growled very low and dangerous as Takuya's own brown eyes opened wide with horror.  
  
"No!" He gasped out as Angewomon gave them one last look of thanks before turning into Data...to be swallowed up by Raremon.  
  
"I've had enough of this! It's time to end this NOW!" Lobomon cried, and hurled himself at Raremon, anger cursing through his veins as he used his Kendo sticks of Light as his attack...only to have them not penetrate through the waste dump known as Raremon.  
  
Raremon let out a bizarre noise, that neither youth realized was his laughter, until he looked down at Lobomon with a wicked grin.  
  
"Prepare to meet your doom...it was you who freed my prisoner, and for that you shall take her place...Keeper of light..." Kouji grimaced.  
  
"I'm really getting sick of being called that!" He cried, trying to wrench himself free from the Digimon. Neither he or Raremon had heard Takuya Digivolve into Agunimon, who was sick of just watching the fight, and sick of not being able to do anything.now that he was free, he figured it was time to kick some serious butt.  
  
"You're finished..." Raremon growled, and Kouji winced at the fumes...he was too close, and as he also realized, they were rather toxic. His fumes were starting to eat through his protective gear that helped shield off attacks...  
  
"I don't think so!" Both Raremon and Lobomon looked behind them as they saw Agunimon charged up and ready to go.  
  
"I'm really ready to get out of this cave...what about you?" He asked Lobomon, and Lobomon nodded as he saw the look of determination in Agunimon's eyes...they were in this battle together. The sooner they could get out into the fresh air, storm or no storm, the better chances they had at finishing this Digimon for good. `  
  
"Let's do it!" Lobomon growled, finally managing to wretch himself free and, pulling his weapon toward him, backed up to where Agunimon stood.  
  
They nodded at one another, as Takuya would use his attack first and Kouji would follow then work as a team.  
  
"Pyro Tornado!" This attack hit Raremon, sending the reek-smelling Digimon into the wall of the cave...the wall started to give away, and the two teenagers nodded at each other...another attack or two should do it...  
  
"Howling Laser!"  
  
Dust loomed around them as Lobomon's attack was true, and then by combing both attacks together, the two of them somehow managed to completely knockdown the cave wall...leading them out into the fresh air. Both of them breathed in deep and took a minute to look around their surroundings, glad to finally be out. Raremon was close, but still trying to get up on his feet and the storm that had drove them into the cave in the first place had stopped...it was night, and the sky was fairly clear with stars shining brightly, and only a few dark clouds loomed in the distance...you could even see the three moons that hung high in the sky.  
  
"Want to do the honors?" Agunimon asked, and Lobomon nodded, definitely wanting it...he didn't see the look of exhaustion in Takuya's eyes though, but charged forward instead as Agunimon De-Digivolved back to Takuya, who wobbled on his feet for a moment before giving in and falling to his knees. He was clenching the deep gash on his left leg that had happened during the explosion in the cave...all he wanted to do now was close his eyes and sleep, but he knew he couldn't do that until he watched Kouji finish off this jerk.  
  
"Howling Laser!" With the final attack, Raremon let out a loud howl of pain as his Digicode appeared and Lobomon grabbed his detector, which was at his side.  
  
"Practic Code execute...be purified by my light..." Lobomon denounced as Raremon disappeared and was no more.  
  
As soon as the task was complete, Lobomon De-Digivolved back to Kouji, who gasped for air and rubbed his aching ribs for a moment...he was glad for the fresh air...and was even more happier that that horrible Digimon was gone. He heard a cough behind him and wheeled around to see Takuya on his knees, and instantly he was filled with worry as he dashed over to the brunette and landed on his knees next to him.  
  
"Takuya?" Takuya must've heard the worry in Kouji's voice because he looked up and gave him a smile.  
  
"I'm...okay..." And with that, he passed out seconds later into Kouji's arms.  
  
~***~  
  
"Un..." His eyes were blurry as he opened them, and he wondered where he was...as he tried to focus them, he saw a pair of dark blue gray eyes staring down at him...and smiled. He recognized those eyes.  
  
"Welcome back." His brown eyes focused even more as he saw Kouji looking straight at him, grinning a little in relief as Takuya found himself groaning again.  
  
"What...happened...?"  
  
"I'm not sure, you passed out on me...oh, and you seriously need to loose a few pounds Takuya!" Takuya glared at him and tried to smack the dark haired teen kneeling next to him, but Kouji dodged it and Takuya let his arm fall limp to his side.  
  
"Sorry, but it's not fun having to carry someone for miles...especially a heavy someone..." Takuya just smirked.  
  
"Well, at least you got your exercise...and your wish." He pointed out, and for a moment Kouji looked confused before he remembered and nodded.  
  
"Yeah, I guess I did." He replied, and there was an awkward silence between the two as Kouji shifted uncomfortably in his position before finally settling down Indian style on the grass.  
  
"Where are we?" Takuya asked, and Kouji grinned.  
  
"Well, remember how you told me about that map that appeared on your Detector when you were trying to find me?" Takuya nodded, remembering all to well and his eyes lit up as he guessed what it was Kouji was going to tell him next.  
  
"Well, it appeared on my Detector shortly after you passed out and I was wondering what to do...it lead me to a hidden clearing...which is where we are now." He said, gesturing around him. Indeed the clearing did look hidden...a river ran not to far from where Kouji had placed Takuya so that his back was against a large boulder.  
  
"Um...hey Kouji?" Kouji looked at Takuya, wondering why the brunette seemed so hesitant suddenly.  
  
"Arigato." Kouji nodded.  
  
"You're welcome and besides, I had to repay the favor didn't I?" He asked, and Takuya chuckled.  
  
"Yeah, you did...is it going to be this way all the time though?" Kouji looked puzzled, and Takuya shook his head.  
  
"I mean, me saving you and you saving me, and vice a versa..." Kouji shrugged at this.  
  
"I don't know...but...I do know something." Now it was Takuya's turn to look puzzled, as he was wondering what it was Kouji was trying to get at.  
  
"We need to get that wound cleaned up." Takuya looked down at the deep cut and groaned...it had stopped bleeding at least, but it definitely didn't look to good...he sighed and hung his head low in defeat.  
  
"Man, this is gonna hurt..." Takuya muttered as Kouji put an arm around his shoulder and helped him stand. Leaning against Kouji, Takuya managed to make his way over to the river where Kouji let him sit as he untied his bandana. Takuya chuckled.  
  
"What?" Kouji asked sternly and Takuya shook his head.  
  
"Nothing...it's just that when I asked you to remove your bandana that first time to clean your wounds you refused...and now you're taking it off to clean my wounds." Kouji smirked at this as he dunked the material in the river and shivered a bit...the water was cold.  
  
"Yeah, well...that was me and this is you...now hang on a minute, this...um...might hurt a bit." Takuya held his breath and bit down a little on his lower lip as Kouji started to clean the cut. The brunette gasped a little at one point and Kouji paused for a moment, letting Takuya catch his breath as beads of sweat started to appear on his forehead, and than nodded for Kouji to continue. It took Kouji awhile to clean it out thoroughly, before he was satisfied enough and washed his bandana in the river for the final time, cleaning it out of the blood and dirt that was caked on it.  
  
I Kouji thought as he set the one he had with him out to dry in the sun and went and sat down next to Takuya, who was staring at him.  
  
"What?"  
  
"N-nothing...it's just that...I've never seen you with your hair down before." As Takuya said this, Kouji let out a low curse as his right hand went up to his hair...at one point he must've lost the tie that had held his hair back into a ponytail, so that now the only thing holding it back was the bandana he had taken off...now his jet black hair was flying behind him a little as a small breeze kicked in. He turned away to go get his still damp bandana to tie it back, when Takuya stopped him.  
  
"Don't...I...like it...like that." He finished lamely, and as Kouji turned again to face him, he noticed the smallest blush appearing on Takuya's cheeks...making him do so as well.  
  
"Um...fine..." There it was again, that awkward silence. Kouji sighed and sat down where he was, staring at the water and Takuya mentally cursed himself.  
  
He thought, his mind racing.  
  
Takuya nearly panicked right then and there...the only feelings he was supposed to have for Kouji were...friendship feelings...right? You just didn't meet a guy the way he met Kouji and...and...fall hopelessly in love with him...right? RIGHT?!?  
  
Little did Takuya know, Kouji was thinking along the same way...  
  
Kouji pounded a fist to the ground, hoping Takuya wouldn't notice. He glanced over at the goggle boy and didn't think that he had, because Takuya looked as lost in his own thoughts as he was. He wondered what it was Takuya was thinking about...and than shook his head.  
  
I should've never let this happen...I should've never let myself fall for him...when did I let it happen? As he mused on this, he supposed that it was during his 'fear'...seeing Takuya die...and than he snapped out of his reverie upon remembering that and stared hard at Takuya, feeling a little uncertain as he wondered if whether or not he had the same kind of feelings for him. Obviously he must, if he had blushed just a few minutes ago after complimenting him on his long hair...he fingered it ruefully and grimaced.  
  
Now he just had the bandana to tie it back...  
  
I should tell him, I really should...I told him in that 'fear' thing that I went through and he told me he loved me back... Even though it really wasn't the real Takuya...a nasty voice in the back of his mind declared and Kouji bit down hard on his lower lip...almost hard enough to draw blood. He didn't feel the pain though, his mind was to far submerged in his own thoughts.  
  
Takuya felt like someone was watching him, and when he glanced over at the only person who could be watching him, he saw Kouji staring hard at him, deep in thought...and it scared Takuya a little. Especially when he didn't react to having his name called out.  
  
"Um...Kouji? Kouji...EARTH to KOUJI!" Not even this helped, and Takuya sighed. He stood, a little wobbly on his left leg but managed to make his way over to where the other teen was sitting and snapped his fingers in front of Kouji's spaced out eyes. Kouji snapped to, way to quickly for Takuya as Takuya let out a startled yelp and fell forward...  
  
Landing right on top of Kouji. Both teens lay there for a few seconds, Takuya on top of Kouji, and both teens suddenly found themselves turning bright red in the face...Kouji was the first to get over it, though he didn't force Takuya to get off him. Instead, he cleared his throat determined to tell Takuya how he really felt about him and just hoped and prayed that Takuya would feel the same way.  
  
Kouji thought, but before he could get the words out, a scream pierced through the air, startling the two boys as Takuya rolled off Kouji and stood, and Kouji sighed.  
  
He thought with a huff as Takuya glanced his way.  
  
"Did you hear that?"  
  
"Yeah, of course I heard that." Kouji snapped, feeling irritated...here he was about to tell the boy he had fallen in love with at first sight the fact that he was in love with him, and he had gotten interrupted...oh yes, he was definitely going to kill whoever disturbed them...that was, if something didn't kill it first.  
  
"I wonder what it was? Or who it was? Hey, do you think that there are other humans here?" Takuya asked all of this kind of rushed, but Kouji made easy sense of it and nodded.  
  
"I definitely think there are other humans here...remember what I told you about that Vampmon asking me where the other 'chosen' were? I definitely think that there are other humans here besides us...but the question is...where?" Takuya shook his head, not knowing the answer to that question. But for both teens, the question was answered soon enough as a small Digimon creature came running into the clearing.  
  
"HELP, HELP, HELP, OH PLEEEEEEAAAAAASEEEEEEEEEEEE HELP ME!" It called out in a panicked tone of voice as it dashed over to where Takuya and Kouji were standing, and chose to hide behind Takuya. One of Kouji's hands balled into a fist as he glared at the small Digimon who barely came up to Takuya's knee...so this was who had interrupted him.a Digimon.  
  
"Whoa, slow down there buddy where's the fire?" Takuya wisecracked, for he hadn't seen anything following the Digimon.  
  
"There's no fire...well, there could be a fire, but...wait...you're...HUMAN!" The Digimon cried out almost gleefully and did a little dance.  
  
"I knew we'd find you!" Both Takuya and Kouji blinked at this, not knowing what the Digimon was trying to tell them.  
  
"Um...? English please?" Kouji asked, rolling his eyes as the Digimon calmed down.  
  
"I'm sorry, but there's another group of human children who have been travelling through this world as I have no doubt that you have been as well...and according to the book..." as the Digimon declared this with a clearing of his throat, he pulled out a dark green book from his waistband, and flipped it open to a page.  
  
"You're the two missing one's we've been looking for! Oh I must tell the others..." Kouji shook his head, wondering whether or not he should take the Digimon aside and tell him what he had just ruined...there didn't seem to be any danger so why had the Digimon been screaming for help?  
  
"You were calling for help...so where's the danger?" Takuya asked, scanning the hidden clearing as though he were reading Kouji's mind, who nodded.  
  
"Yeah, where is this danger?" He asked with narrowed eyes.  
  
"Oh, dear me...it...it was following...Zoey and the other's must've Digivolved to stop it...oh I do hope that Neemon is alright..." As the Digimon kept on mumbling to itself and started pacing around, Takuya and Kouji glanced at each other and shrugged.  
  
"What should we do?" Takuya asked, and Kouji snorted.  
  
"Leave him...we were doing just fine on our own." Kouji hissed, his narrow eyes glaring over at the Digimon who had stopped pacing, his eyes wide open.  
  
"Oh dear me...I...I think it followed me..." He gasped, and Kouji looked up and had his hand around his detector as a huge flying bug flew straight at them, looking very upset.  
  
"Sneemon...not very good creatures let me tell you, especially when you disturb their slumber...heh..."  
  
"Sneemon huh?" Takuya asked, as the Digimon finished telling them who it was that was chasing after him as he flipped his Detector in his hand and looked at Kouji who nodded.  
  
"Let's do it." They Digivolved in front of the Digimon who stared wide eyed at them and did his little happy dance again, knowing now indeed that these were the two they had been looking for...they could Digivolve...from human state...it was them, he knew it.  
  
So he watched as they Digivolved, and sure enough according to the book, the boy with the goggles had the spirit of Fire, and the dark haired one had the spirit of Light.oh what a happy day this was.that is, it would be happier if he hadn't been chased away from the others by the Sneemon.  
  
The Digimon who had interrupted Kouji continued to watch as the two boys worked together, and eventually defeated the Sneemon, the one with the spirit of Fire-whom the small Digimon assumed to be Agunimon-purified the data and both boys had De-Digivolved, panting a little.  
  
"Are you alright Takuya?" Kouji asked, and Takuya nodded and gave him a thumbs up but Kouji was concerned.the brunette looked like he was ready to pass out again.  
  
Kouji kept a hand on his shoulder to steady him, glaring at the small Digimon.  
  
"Do you mind giving us a minute?"  
  
"What-? Oh, yes, of course.of course." The Digimon stammered and turned away.  
  
"You sure you're alright?" Takuya nodded again at Kouji's question, hypnotized by the look of concern in his deep blue gray eyes.  
  
"Yeah.why do you ask?"  
  
"Because you look and sound.like you're about ready to pass out on me again!" Takuya smiled a little at this.  
  
"Nah, I won't pass out on you again.I'm just.tired, that's all.it was a long day and night yesterday." Kouji smiled back.  
  
"Um.you know, there's something I wanted to tell you before that Digimon interrupted us.Takuya, when I was facing that dark void, my fears.I." Kouji felt his voice get caught in his throat and he looked away from Takuya.  
  
"I.the fear that I had to face was.was.loosing you." Kouji swallowed hard and continued to look away as he heard nothing but silence from Takuya. He didn't want to see the look of rejection on the brunette's face. But he didn't have a choice, as seconds later a gloved hand came around underneath his chin and forced him to look into a pair of dark brown eyes.but those eyes did not hold the look of rejection. Instead, they shined.shined with warmth.and.love?  
  
"Really?" Takuya asked, and Kouji nodded as Takuya's smile widened.  
  
"You know, I think that would be my biggest fear as well.loosing you.I." Kouji couldn't resist the wait any longer.before he allowed Takuya to finish his sentence he found his lips upon the brunette's, surprised at the warmth and compassion they held.  
  
The two kissed until they realized that they had to let go of one another for air, and when they did they were both breathing hard, looking straight into one another's eyes. Kouji didn't really notice that he was holding onto Takuya like a lifeline, holding his body close.  
  
"I.love.y-" Before he could finish his sentence, another pair of Sneemon came about and both boys gasped as they dodged an attack meant for their death.  
  
Kouji pushed Takuya out of the way and as the other teen fell to the ground, rolling away from the attack, Kouji Digivolved into Lobomon once more.  
  
Takuya watched with widened eyes as Kouji attacked the Sneemon.  
  
"HOWLING LASER!" Even as he attacked though, the Sneemon dodged it, and gave Kouji a menacing look before attacking again-it's attack was true, and hit Kouji quite forcefully as he was knocked to the ground.  
  
"KOUJI!" Takuya cried, and gripped his Detector in one hand. He was about ready to Digivolve when a feminine voice rang out into the clearing.  
  
"You've reigned your evil here for the last time! TEMPEST TWIST!" The feminine voice was followed by a wave of wind, which hit the Sneemon directly, before it could dodge it. The other Sneemon was ready to pounce on Kouji, but he got the upper hand.  
  
"LOBO KENDO!" His twin blades of light sliced through the Sneemon and its data appeared. As Kouji was purifying it, the other Sneemon headed for Takuya.who bit his lower lip as the Sneemon called out it's attack.  
  
"TWINSICLES!" It would've sliced Takuya in two.had two things not happened at once.Kouji-as Lobomon-dashed toward the brunette and grabbed him, holding him close as he protected him from the attack-and another voice-not the same as the first one-called out it's attack, and like the first attack it was true to it's mark and hit the Sneemon squarely.  
  
"CRYSTAL FREEZE!"  
  
"LET"S FINISH THIS!" The feminine voice shouted, as she came into the clearing.she was a Digimon, a winged angelic looking Digimon.Kouji didn't wait, he glanced down at Takuya, who looked a little shook up. Before he could lunge back into battle though, the feminine Digimon had already purified the data and was DeDigivolving along with the other smaller bear- like Digimon. The feminine Digimon was female, with blond hair and blue eyes, and the other was a kid who looked to be no more than nine or ten. Kouji DeDigivolved also, still holding onto Takuya as he stared into his brown eyes.  
  
"You okay?" He asked the goggle-wearing brunette, his voice rough and his mouth dry. Takuya nodded closing his eyes for a minute as he evened out his own breath.  
  
"Yeah, I'm.fine."  
  
"And I love you." Kouji surprised himself as he had hugged Takuya tight and whispered this into his ear.for some reason he had wanted to tell the brunette this before they met the other two children who had appeared before them. Takuya's grip tightened for a moment, his head on Kouij's shoulder as Kouji felt him nod into it.  
  
"And I." Takuya didn't get to finish his sentence as another teen came rushing up to the group, panting as he stopped and placed his hands on his knees.he looked to be about a year or so older than the rest of them, not to mention a little chubby as well.  
  
Takuya glanced up and realized that there were others there, watching them- no, correction, staring at him and Kouji, and so he broke off the embrace and, giving Kouji a look that said "we'll continue this later," cleared his throat. Kouji stepped back and stood next to Takuya, his right hand brushing across Takuya's left one.  
  
The Digimon that had had the Sneemon chasing after him came rushing up.  
  
"Oh, thank goodness." The younger boy declared, smiling in the Digimon's direction.  
  
"We're glad you're okay Bokomon.we thought something terrible had happened to you and." The older boy started, but realized that Takuya and Kouji were standing their, and stopped, staring at them silently, with a slightly confused look in his eyes.  
  
"Who are you?" The girl with the medium length blond hair asked, her bright blue eyes staring directly into Kouji, who froze, the one hand that had brushed against Takuya's was now on Takuya's shoulder as though to protect him.   
"It all depends on who you are!" Kouji snapped...who did this girl think she was? He and Takuya were handling the situation just fine, until she and those other two kids showed up.   
Kouji thought as he held his cold and steady gaze with the blond haired girl.   
"Don't ask me the same question that I asked you first! Who are you two, and how is it that you both can Digivolve?!?" The girl demanded again, but before Kouji could open his mouth, a strange small digimon who had been travelling with the other three kids stepped forward, holding a green book in his hands and holding out a hand for quietness. The blond glared at him.  
"Bokomon, if you hadn't decided to get into trouble we wouldn't be having to deal with this! Now maybe you can tell me who these two are!" She snapped, tossing her head in the air and sounding rather ungrateful. All the Digimon did-who Takuya and Kouji now knew as Bokomon-was sniff rather haughtily and open his book.   
"Please Zoey, if you want to find out who these two are, than I suggest that you stop acting like such a brat." The blond girl-Zoey-seethed for a moment as she clenched her hands into tight fists, and Kouji moved in front of Takuya, blocking him from Zoey's anger. If she wanted a fight, than so be it, but it would be with him, and not Takuya.   
"These two are just like you guys-they are Legendary Worriers as well. The brunette possesses the spirit of Fire, and this one possesses the spirit of light." Bokomon declared, and than with a clearing of his through, tossed the book down into his...pants.   
  
"Wow...so why didn't they appear when the other children did Bokomon?" The other Digimon travelling with the group-who resembled something like that of a rabbit-asked, looking at Takuya and Kouji rather suspiciously as Bokomon took a hold of the red pants the other was wearing and gave them a snap, causing the Digimon to recoil slightly.  
  
"Because they probably did appear at the same time as the others, but they just didn't appear together...am I right?" Bokomon asked, and it was Takuya this time who answered, and not Kouji, who was about to open his mouth before Takuya stepped out and nodded his head.  
  
"Yeah...we took a train here and everything, but it's just been me and Kouji for quite some time...we didn't think that anyone else was here on this world but us." Takuya stopped suddenly as he found himself staring into Zoey's bright blue eyes-and she was staring back, looking rather calm now, her fists unclenching and a small smile on her face. It made Takuya recoil a bit as he stepped back as he placed his hand into Kouji's own hand...as he did so, Zoey's eyes turned cold as fast as they had seemed to warm up.   
"So...are you two...together than?" The heavy set boy asked, motioning toward Kouji and Takuya-now hand holding-with a small grin on his face. Nothing was going to take Zoey away from him-or should he say no one...if these two were a couple as he thought they were, than it was safe for him to advance on Zoey as he'd been trying to become friendlier with her since coming into this world.   
The three teens saw Kouji and Takuya hesitate, before it was Kouji who nodded, moving his hand from Takuya's shoulder and down to Takuya's hand again, giving it a hard squeeze.  
"Yeah...we're...together." He said, nodding toward the heavy set boy that his meaning had been received and was loud and clear to him. Apparently he didn't seem to mind that he and Takuya were a couple now. He felt Takuya get closer to him, and he tightened his grip on the brunette's hand a little more. Bokomon's eyes widened suspiciously for a moment, before he closed them and nodded.   
"Very well then...let's have an introduction, shall we? I am Bokomon, keeper of the book...and this beside me is...Neemon." Neemon did a mimic of a bow and scratched one of his rabbit like ears.  
"Nice ta meet ya!" He declared, and the introductions continued as Bokomon went onto the girl-Zoey.   
"And this-"   
"They already know who I am Bokomon! And they better not forget my name either! It's Zoey, if they must know it again." Zoey spat out, and Bokomon looked startled for a moment as both Takuya and Kouji flinched at her tone of voice. Kouji was really starting to not like Zoey all that much...  
"Well, I guess that just leaves me and the little guy here next to me." The heavy set boy declared, and outstretched a hand toward Kouji and Takuya.   
"I'm JP...well, my full name is Junpei, but everyone that's a friend calls me JP." He said, and Kouji took his hand and shook it, Takuya following as JP let it drop to his side.  
"I'm Tommy." The smallest boy said, who looked like he'd rather be anywhere else but there, and didn't offer a handshake or anything, he just gazed up at the two newcomers, his eyes first landing on Kouji's for a brief second and than falling onto Takuya's, and stayed there...he felt a strange connection toward the brunette for some odd reason...  
"Yeah, well I'm Takuya and this is Kouji." Takuya said, introducing Kouji for him, and somehow Kouji didn't seem to mind that-he suddenly really didn't feel like talking much to this other group...in fact, he liked it better when he and Takuya were travelling alone. And he knew that now that they'd met up with the 'others' there was no way that was going to happen again.   
"So now that that is all done, I want to thank you both for saving me...and to tell you that you are welcome to travel with us if you wish." Bokomon said, looking from one teen to the other, as though trying to read their minds. As he was doing this though, Kouji caught Takuya's eyes, silently praying that Takuya would want to continue to travel alone with him and not with the group. As though sensing something wrong, Takuya cleared his throat and started to drag Kouji away.  
"Let...let us talk about that for a moment, will you...?" TBC  
  
So will Takuya and Kouji decide to start traveling with the others, or will they continue on by themselves? Most of all, what will Zoey and the others really think of Takuya and Kouji as an 'official' couple.? To find out keep an eye out for chapter 9, and as always, REVIEW!!!!!!!! ^-^ 


	8. Thunder Spirit Part I

Disclaimer: I so 100 percent of the way do not own Digimon...if I did, all the loner boys would be paired with the goggle heads...as that has yet to happen, then I don't own it, do I? So don't even think about suing me! :P  
  
Author's Note(s): I'm so sorry for making you guys wait so long for this chapter to come out. Between school and work, and home/family matters, I've had a LOT to do...BUT, that doesn't mean that I wasn't thinking of the plot for this chapter-I definitely was doing that! So here I am with time to myself and I'm able to type it all out so hopefully I can get it out to you guys so you can read it! I also had trouble with my muses-they left me- they decided to take their own vacation and left me hanging for awhile...so now that I've got some good ideas, I can start writing once more! So shall we begin, yes? -just don't forget to review!!! You've all been SO awesome about doing it! You have no idea how happy an author is after she's had a couple of bad days in a row and then checks her inbox to see reviews of people telling her how wonderful the story is...^-^ Seriously though, all of you reviewers rock, without you guys being so interested in this fic, I don't think it would have gotten as far as it has...*grins*...so thank you! (At the VERY end of this fic, very last chapter, I'll have a chapter full of thank you's for everyone...it's just the way I do it, but I really do appreciate you guys cheering me on.)  
  
Warnings: YAOI/SLASH ahead. If you have gotten this far without figuring out that I've made Takuya and Kouji a couple, I'm impressed-really, I am :P...if you've gotten this far and haven't figured that out and don't LIKE the idea of male/male coupling, than LEAVE NOW because the further we get into this story, the MORE Takouji takes place and gets fluffier...(Hence, if you don't like the thought of two boys kissing, this is not the fic for you!) And also there's going to be some Zoey bashing here in this chapter and maybe in the next one as well, so if you like her character, you've also been for warned...-_-;; (sorry, Zoey's NOT my favorite-in fact, she's my LEAST favorite character...I can't help but bash her in my own fic...)  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Yaoi couples: Takuya/Kouji Non Yaoi: hints of JP/Zoey  
  
Chapter 9: Thunder Spirit-part I  
  
JP was moping. He couldn't help it, he really couldn't. Here he was, standing with two other boys that they'd just met-and they also had their spirits-even little Tommy had gotten his before him! How did that work out? He drew little designs in the dirt with the toe of his shoe, and sighed as he watched while Takuya and Kouji went off to 'discuss' the matter of traveling with them. He could see why Takuya liked Kouji-Kouji was definitely handsome. He was watching the dark haired teen as he and Takuya stopped a few feet away by a giant oak tree and leaned against it. Takuya was talking, but Kouji didn't move...  
  
From behind him, he heard Zoey sniff arrogantly and he rolled his eyes. As much as he hated to admit that he thought Zoey was really pretty, she was acting like a royal brat lately. He didn't know what had gotten into her when they'd all been introduced to Takuya and Kouji. JP was actually kind of hoping that they'd choose to join them...at least then he'd have someone new to talk too. He didn't even mind if the two were together as a 'item'...as Zoey had called them. He just wished that Zoey would get her head up out of her ass and realize that he was trying to flirt with her...he wondered if that would ever happen at all, or if the blond would just continue being as stuck up as she had been lately-it was starting to drive him nuts.  
  
I JP thought gloomily, as he continued to watch Takuya and Kouji talk.  
  
"I hope they travel with us..." Tommy whispered at him, and JP nodded. Zoey must not have heard, or if she had she wasn't saying anything about it. She had her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at the other two boys, still tapping her foot impatiently as though they were delaying her from doing something important.  
  
"So do I actually...it would be fun to have more people to talk too." JP admitted, and Tommy smiled as he looked at Takuya and Kouji.  
  
"Hey JP?" JP looked down at Tommy as he adjusted his hat.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"When Kouji said they were an 'item'...what does that mean?" JP nearly face faulted to the floor as he started to sweat-how could he explain to someone as young as Tommy what 'gay' meant? Not like it was a bad thing or anything, but...well...for someone 10 years of age, he wasn't sure if Tommy would understand it or not. Besides, wasn't that something that parents were supposed to discuss with their children anyway? He sweat dropped and tried to find the right words to tell Tommy what 'item' meant. But before he could, Zoey beat him to the punch-she must've overheard Tommy's question.  
  
"It means they're 'together' Tommy. They're together in a way that a boy and a girl should be together." Tommy frowned, and than smiled.  
  
"So you mean they're like, boyfriend and girlfriend, but instead they're both boys?" He asked cheerfully and Zoey growled and walked away, but JP nodded.  
  
"Yeah, that's kind of what that means..." He whispered as he watched Zoey's retreating back, and he heard Tommy giggle a little bit. He looked down at him and asked him what was so funny, but all Tommy could do was shake his head for a moment as he caught his breath.  
  
"No, nothing...I think they actually look really cute together." Tommy winked at JP as JP eyed him curiously. For some reason, Tommy seemed to understand the whole situation a lot better than he did, and he asked him why. Tommy shrugged.  
  
"My older brother-who's in college now-is that way too-he has a boyfriend..." As he said this, Tommy only smiled. He didn't seem embarrassed at all about the fact that his older brother was gay.  
  
"In fact, I think that Takuya and Kouji would get along with him really well...Takuya reminds me a lot of him...it'd be neat if we all got to meet one another's families when we got home, right?" JP nodded, loosing himself in his own train of thoughts, but smiled down at Tommy none the less...  
  
~***~  
  
"So...?" They'd crossed the clearing and Kouji had leaned up against the trunk of a huge oak tree they'd spotted.  
  
"So what?" Takuya sighed. Why was Kouji acting so differently now? Was it because the other kids were there with them now? Was it something he had done? He frowned a little.  
  
"So are we going to travel with them or not?" Kouji just shrugged.  
  
"You're not being much of a help Kouji." Kouji seemed to glare at him, and Takuya, shocked took a step back. Kouji's expression softened then...he realized that Takuya wasn't used to seeing this side of him. When he was around people like JP and Zoey, he tended to close himself off.  
  
"I'm sorry." Kouji said, reaching out and grabbing Takuya's shirt as he pulled the brunette close to him. He sank down to the ground so that he was sitting cross legged and Takuya followed suite, sitting in his lap, with his legs over his left knee. He grinned as the brunette fidgeted once, and then finally leaned his head up in a sideways position against his chest.  
  
"Comfortable?" Takuya grinned back at his question.  
  
"Yes, thank you." Kouji shook his head and hugged Takuya a little closer to him.  
  
"The only thing is...is...that I'm not very good around a big group of people...see, my dad and I moved around a lot, and I attended so many schools that I never really made any close friends...until you came along..." Takuya glanced up at him, and cuddled closer. Kouji didn't mind at all about his display of affection.  
  
"But it's only three other people..." Takuya said, gesturing toward them with his right hand, his left hand entwined with Kouji's right one.  
  
"I know...but...I...don't trust Zoey a lot...she's..."  
  
"A big pain in the ass?" Kouji chuckled as Takuya practically finished off his sentence for him and nodded.  
  
"Yes, a big pain in the ass...I think she keeps on eyeing you...and that's kind of pissing me off." Takuya grinned.  
  
"So I'm only all yours huh and no one else's? You can't share me?" Kouji laughed and kissed the brunette on the forehead.  
  
"All mine." Takuya chuckled and kissed him back.  
  
"So, now we've really got to decide...are we going to continue to travel alone and leave JP and Tommy in the hands of Zoey?" Kouji sighed again, not sure what to do or how to answer Takuya's question as he glanced off in the direction of JP and Tommy, who seemed to be having a conversation of their own...Zoey must've wondered off at one point...not like he cared or anything...he didn't, really.  
  
"What do you want?" Takuya's eyes opened wide as Kouji asked this, and he shook his head.  
  
"I-I don't know, I mean...it'd be nice to have some company for awhile but I also like just traveling alone with you..." Kouji smiled at this, and then the two of them sat there for a few minutes, just enjoying one another's company.  
  
"Well...what we can do, is we could travel with them for awhile, and then if we get tired of them we can just separate...I mean, they've come this far on their own without us, right? And from what we know so far, Zoey and Tommy both have their spirits..." Kouji allowed his voice to trail off, and Takuya took his time to think, before slowly nodding at his suggestion.  
  
"Yeah...that sounds like a plan...if you're willing to do it, I think it would be fun to travel with them for awhile-we can just ignore Zoey." Kouji chuckled.  
  
"Besides, it seems like JP's got a crush on her anyway...I think once she realizes that, she might leave the two of us alone..." Takuya stood up then, brushing the dirt off of his pants and extending a hand to Kouji as he accepted it and stood up with the brunette's help.  
  
"So, do you want to tell them?" Kouji asked, and Takuya nodded as he started to walk toward JP and Tommy, but Kouji placed a quick hand on his shoulder and stopped him for a moment.  
  
"One more thing Takuya...just to warn you I might...not act like I normally do around them, like I do when it's just you and me...I might be distant. So don't feel like I'm ignoring you or anything, because I'm not..." Takuya nodded again and smiled as he grabbed Kouji's hand and held it tightly.  
  
"I know, and I understand. We can have our 'private' moments at night..." He said with a playful grin, and a mischievous look in his eyes and Kouji couldn't help but send the same look back to him.  
  
"Alright, as long as you understand." With that, he followed Takuya back to where JP and Tommy were now sitting, playing a game of paper, rock, scissors. They looked up when the two boys arrived, their eyes holding a questioning look in them as they held their breaths, wondering what their decision was.  
  
"So...?" JP asked, as Takuya grinned at him.  
  
"So, we've decided that we're going to go ahead and travel with you guys...but...only for awhile." He added, and Tommy's expression-which had turned into one of sheer joy-started to fall.  
  
"We just want to see if we can travel with you guys-you know?" Takuya added hastily, seeing the expression change on Tommy's face, and both of the other boy's nodded and stood up.  
  
"Then let's go and tell Zoey...we should head out and hike for awhile before dark falls..." JP muttered, heading off in the direction that Zoey went out toward, when Neemon suddenly dashed over to them, jumping up and down and waving his hands at them. Takuya and Kouji eyed the small Digimon skeptically.  
  
"What's wrong Neemon?" Tommy asked, and Neemon took a second to 'compose' himself, his eyes still huge.  
  
"They've got Bokomon and Zoey!" He gasped, acting as though he had just ran a hundred mile marathon or something.  
  
"What?!? Who's got Bokomon and Zoey?!?" JP screeched, as Neemon tried to figure it out-the other's sighed.  
  
"I...don't know how to explain it...but...bit, plant like things!" Takuya and Kouji eyed one another and shook their heads.  
  
"Can you take us to them Neemon?" Takuya asked, and Neemon looked fearful for a minute, then sighed and sweat dropped.  
  
"Alright, alright...I'll take you to them...man, and I barely escaped them! It's like a mon eating plant or something!" As he quickly lead the way, the other's followed.  
  
Slowly the clearing turned into a forest-and as they kept on walking, they saw no sign of Bokomon or Zoey. Kouji frowned, thinking how ridiculous this was...was Neemon acting this way because he had thought he had seen something and in reality he and the other two had gotten lost and Zoey hadn't wanted to admit it?  
  
"Neemon, are you sure you're leading us in the right direction?" He asked, a scowl starting to replace the frown, as Neemon nodded eagerly.  
  
"Yes, yes, I'm sure, I'm positive..." He continued leading them for quite awhile, sniffing the air every once in awhile...when his ears started to turn down, Kouji sighed in frustration...knowing what was coming...  
  
"Um...actually, no, no I'm not that positive at all now-I thought it was this way..." Even JP groaned, feeling like he wanted to throttle Neemon. He understood now why Bokomon did it so much.  
  
"Neemon, it seems like we're just wondering around in circles..." Takuya volunteered, trying to help, but Neemon shook his head. None of them saw the plant like vines slithering on the ground as they made their way toward the group...  
  
"No, it's not the same..." Neemon insisted, and when Tommy yelped they all turned to where he had been standing...wait a minute, had been standing?!? Instantly JP started to panic, and even Takuya had to admit it was a little nerving being in a shadowy forest-the sun didn't quite reach through the trees-and having two of your peers gone-now even maybe three...  
  
"Um...Tommy?" He called out, but didn't get any answer. He was definitely starting to feel worried now.  
  
"Where is he?" Kouji asked, looking around him as though Tommy were playing a game of hide and seek. JP shook his head and shrugged, a nervous sweat starting to appear on his forehead.  
  
"I don't know...he was here...I swear he was just here!" JP claimed, and Takuya groaned.  
  
"Will you calm down JP?!? We'll find him, we'll..." Takuya had been facing Kouji and was turning around to face JP when he blinked and realized that JP wasn't even there any longer-he had disappeared like Tommy had-and now he too was feeling the panicky feeling that JP had probably felt earlier.  
  
"Man oh man...Kouji, what do you think could've happened to them?" He whispered, and when he didn't get any response, he whirled around-to find no Kouji. His mouth feel open as he cried out Kouji's name a few different times...even Neemon had disappeared...what was going on?!?  
  
He smiled a little to himself as he remembered that evening last winter. It had snowed, and Shinya had wanted to go to the park and play with his friends...so Takuya, being the good older brother that he was, had offered to take him so his mother could make dinner and do some other things she needed to do. They'd had a fun afternoon-Takuya had even met up with some of his friends from the soccer team, and they'd had a snowball fight with Shinya and his friends, splitting up into even teams so that some of the bigger kids were with some of the little kids...as the afternoon had dwindled away though, there were only a few kids left-and most were getting ready to go home. It had started to get dark, and Takuya didn't know where Shinya was. He had kept on trying to find him as he looked for him, not knowing where his little brother had taken off to...he remembered that someone else had found him and was helping his little brother look for him...  
  
But now he didn't have anyone else to help him find his friends...  
  
He was so trapped in his thoughts as he continued to search for them, that he didn't feel the vines that wrapped themselves around his ankles. He let out a surprised yelp as he was suddenly violently dragged upward...into the trees...at one point he remembered banging his head hard against something, and then his mind fell into darknes...  
  
~***~  
  
"Takuya...?" He heard someone calling his name...  
  
Groaning, Takuya slowly opened his eyes, and glanced upward into a pair of worried looking blue gray ones. Kouji...he knew that voice...he slowly grinned up at him and tried to sit up, but groaned.  
  
"Relax, you took quite a hit on the head." Kouji whispered soothingly, and Takuya looked around, realizing that they were up in the trees somewhere, up high...and trapped, locked up in a cage made completely of-vines? He couldn't move very much, because the cage was a little on the small side. But at least he was with Kouji-he didn't know where the other's were, he couldn't see them anywhere. In fact, as he continued to glance up at the sky, he noticed that it was actually clouding now, looking like it was ready to rain...again.  
  
He groaned a little bit more as Kouji helped him sit up fully. He couldn't stand...standing was practically out of the question. Kouji glanced at him with another concerned look.  
  
"What happened?" Takuya asked, and Kouji was silent for a moment as he nibbled a little bit on his lower lip.  
  
"Um...I'm not sure myself actually. I know that I was dragged off by those vine like things and I think that JP, Zoey, and Tommy were also dragged off. I haven't seen them yet...then I was put in here and I saw them drag you in. You were unconscious before that..."  
  
"I don't remember what happened though...by 'they,' do you mean those plant like things?" Kouji nodded at Takuya's question.  
  
"How long have we been stuck in here?"  
  
"About a few hours..." Takuya gasped.  
  
"I've been out of it that long?!? I don't even remember hitting my head or anything..." Kouji just shook his head, unsure of how to reply to that. They snuggled up to one another, trying to figure out exactly what was going on.  
  
Until they heard a scream...  
  
Takuya's head popped up from where he had been resting it once more on Kouji's chest, and his eyes opened wide.  
  
"That was Zoey..." Kouji frowned as Takuya said the obvious-there was after all only one girl in the group-and he doubted that Tommy or JP-or even Takuya or himself for that matter, could scream that high.  
  
"Yeah, I wonder what's going on...I wish we could be released from this stupid cage..." He mumbled, and Takuya nodded, and then gasped as suddenly it seemed that Kouji's wish was coming true-the vines started to unravel themselves, steadily one by one. But instead of leaving them completely alone, they once again wrapped themselves around the two boys, dragging them away from one another as they started to struggle.  
  
"NO!" Takuya hollered, continuing his struggle as he was taken away from Kouji, but he saw as he struggled to look behind him, that the vines entwining Kouji were dragging him along the same path and lessened his struggling a bit.  
  
"What's going on?" He yelled behind him, and he heard Kouji grunt as he continued to struggle, then gasp.  
  
"Too-tight...!" Takuya glanced again at Kouji, noticing that the raven haired teen was having problems breathing...  
  
"Stop struggling Kouji!" He told him, and for a second Kouji glared at him, before relaxing his muscles. Takuya realized that he was fine-but only because he wasn't struggling as much as Kouji had been. Kouji took in a deep breath of air as the vines slightly loosened, allowing him to breathe again.  
  
"Ugh...I hate these things..." Takuya gave Kouji a grim look as Kouji said what he was thinking...it wasn't very fun being dragged along by live plants...  
  
"I wonder where they're taking us?" He breathed out, as Kouji shook his head and struggled a little, but groaned when the vines strengthened their grip once more, and forced himself to relax again.  
  
Eventually Takuya's question was answered, as a large village came into view. He raised an eyebrow as the vines continued to carry him and Kouji past the plant made huts and to something that resembled a temple.  
  
"This is getting too weird..." Kouji muttered, and as soon as they had reached the 'stairs'...once again made from the plant-like vines, they were dropped, landing hard on the ground. Both boys grimaced, and stood as they rubbed their sore spots.  
  
"Um...is anyone here?" Takuya hollered out as the vines quickly retreated, their jobs having been done. Even Kouji was looking around, wondering what was going on.  
  
"I knew we should've continued to travel by ourselves...this is just way too weird..." He muttered.  
  
"Yeah, well at least look on the bright side-we're still together and they-whoever they is, haven't separated us yet." Takuya pointed out, and as much as Kouji hated to admit it, Takuya was right.  
  
"So where's everyone else?" Kouji asked, and Takuya shrugged, not knowing...until he heard JP muttering and complaining as he was struggling like Kouji had. Tommy was behind him, being dragged by the same vines that had held Kouji and Takuya earlier. Like the two of them, the other boys were dumped on the ground as well, grimacing as they stood, but glad to see Kouji and Takuya.  
  
"Man, what's going on? Tommy and I were stuck in the same cage, and it was miserable...way to small if you ask me." JP complained, grinning sheepishly at Takuya and Kouji as Tommy shook his head.  
  
"Yeah, but you took up most of the space JP! I was feeling squished...but I'm sure that if Takuya and Kouji were in the same position as we were, they probably didn't mind it half as much as I did!" He teased, and Takuya found himself turning a bright red. He glanced at Kouji to find the boy smiling weakly, also blushing.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, rub it in. At least we were comfortable." Kouji pointed out, and Tommy stuck his tongue out at him.  
  
"So...what are we supposed to do, just walk right on in or something?" JP asked, nodding in the direction of the 'temple'. Kouji shrugged.  
  
"I'm not sure...we were just pretty much dumped here the same way you were..."  
  
"Did you guys hear Zoey screaming?" JP asked, and both Kouji and Takuya nodded.  
  
"Yeah, we did hear her screaming-why hasn't she shown up yet?" Takuya wondered aloud, but before any of the other boys could answer his question, a sound vibrated in the air-something that resembled the sound of beating drums...  
  
"Um...what's going on?" Tommy asked, looking just as confused as the other's did. The vines came up from behind them again, and Takuya shrugged one off his shoulder. It was strange though-this time the vines didn't seem to be 'trapping' them in their grasp, instead they seemed to be guiding them.  
  
"I think that these plant things want us to go in there." Takuya said, in reply to Tommy's question. They couldn't very well turn around and walk away-they vines were creating some sort of barrier, that even if they wanted too, wouldn't allow them. So instead they had to continue walking forward into the darkness of the temple made from...well, plants.  
  
"This is creepy-way too creepy." JP muttered, as outside thunder boomed in the distance, and Takuya heard the rain start-at least here, they were dry. If he and Kouji had been left where they were originally, they'd probably be soaking wet by now...  
  
JP jumped a little as more thunder sounded in the distance, and Takuya sent him a look that was of part amusement and part worry.  
  
"You okay there JP?" JP nodded, fidgeting as they continued to make their way into the center of the temple, which was where the vines seemed to want them to go.  
  
"Yeah, oh yeah, I'm just fine..." Again the thunder echoed through the walls and JP jumped once more. Kouji grinned a little.  
  
"What JP, afraid of thunder and lightning storms or something?" JP growled a little under his throat. He hated admitting his fear...but Kouji had guessed it, and he really didn't have much of a choice now.  
  
"Yes, I am...want to make something of it?" He grumbled, and Kouji just held up his hands in resignation and shook his head.  
  
"Nope. But that would explain why you're so jumpy suddenly, that's all." He grinned at Takuya, who found himself grinning back and edging closer to him. The vines didn't seem to mind this, so he placed his hand into Kouji's, and kept it there. Tommy had moved over from where he had been walking next to Kouji, and grinned up at him as Takuya glanced down and mouthed a thank you. Tommy nodded.  
  
"Where are we going? My feet are getting tired..." JP complained, not quite liking the silence, but no one didn't really know how to reply to that. Fortunately for them though, their question was answered when they stepped into the center arena of the temple, and their mouths dropped at what they saw.  
  
"ZOEY?!?"  
  
They all said her name in unison, and it would've been amusing had the situation not seemed as serious as it was.  
  
It was indeed Zoey, dressed in a pale green dress that reached down to her feet-which, were now bare-and had only one strap going across her right shoulder, leaving her left shoulder bare. Her hair looked washed and clean, so that it shined in the darkness. And she was smiling...she looked happy.  
  
"Wait a minute, wait a minute...how come Zoey gets treated like royalty and we get treated like prisoners or something?!?" JP questioned, and Zoey raised her eyebrow a little as she giggled.  
  
"Because silly, I'm a girl...and girls do a better job of ruling, that's all...I suppose you're being well treated then, hmmm...?" She asked, and as she asked this, Takuya found himself getting angry.  
  
"Like hell we are! We were trapped outside in cages made of vines, cages that were way to small for us! We couldn't even stand up! I don't call that being 'treated well'." Takuya fumed, and Zoey just gave him a wicked look.  
  
"Well, then I suppose at least you and Kouji were comfortable? And you might want to thank me, because if I hadn't told them to put you and Kouji together you both would've been separated." She mused, and now Kouji felt the same anger that Takuya was feeling.  
  
"What do you mean by that?!? Can you somehow control these vines that've been dragging us everywhere?" Zoey smiled and nodded.  
  
"Oh yes, they're very loyal to me..." Takuya rolled his eyes.  
  
"Zoey, we've only been separated for about three hours and you've already become a princess or something and have subjects you can rule over?" JP groaned, and Zoey nodded.  
  
"Oh, yes...yes I do...now, aren't you going to ask me why I brought you all in here?" Kouji and Takuya both grimaced at her question, and the look in their eyes said 'no way in hell,' as did JP while he shook his head. So Tommy, looking from one to the other and than back up at Zoey, sighed.  
  
"Zoey?"  
  
She smiled sweetly down at him.  
  
"Yes Tommy?"  
  
"Why did you bring us here?" He asked softly, and Zoey's smile widened.  
  
"Because I only wanted to make sure you were still alive, that's all. And I want you to meet a new friend of mine...guys, meet Vineramon, Vineramon, these are the guys." The boys all gasped as a Digimon nearly twice their size stepped out from the shadows. He was...nothing but a plant...he reminded Takuya of something like a mutant-half plant, half human...he shuddered at Vineramon's appearance.  
  
"Now then, since you've met Vineramon you can be off..." Zoey clapped her hands twice, as the vines snapped into action and once again wrapped themselves around everyone. She still had that wicked looking smile on her face though as she eyed Takuya and Kouji...who had started to struggle again, not believing what was going on.  
  
"Oh, and my bad...release him." She said, pointing at Kouji as the vines seemed to bristle with complaint and drop him. He fell, landing gently on his feet and glared up at where Zoey was now standing, getting up off of her 'throne'.  
  
"You can take the rest away...I'm sorry Takuya, you get to spend a long, lonely cold night all by yourself...Kouji's my guest....he gets to stay with me." And as the vines started to drag the other Digi destined away, with Takuya struggling and JP feeling like he was ready to cry, Kouji silently cursed himself...he hadn't known what Zoey was up to until now. He had had the feeling that she'd been eyeing either him or Takuya-or perhaps the boy of them-when they'd first me...and now it looked like she wanted him. He sighed as the other's were taken away back to through the darkness and into the stormy weather outside, then turned to face Zoey, his eyes hardening as she descended down the steps toward him.  
  
"You know I'm not interested in your... company." He snarled, and Zoey blanched for a moment, thinking of how to reply to it for a second.  
  
"Oh, I know that you don't...but maybe I can get you to change your mind...maybe a night away from Takuya, and with me will help you." Kouji shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest and giving the blond haired girl before him a defiant look.  
  
"Over my dead body. I love Takuya, not you or any other girl that'll come my way...besides, JP likes you Zoey..." Zoey sighed and shook her head.  
  
"Yes, but I don't want JP." She whined.  
  
"You can't get everything you want Zoey." Kouji warned her. He had learned that lesson a long time ago in his life.  
  
"Mmmm...but maybe I can...if you don't at least accept to spend one night with me...I'll have to just let those vines do something horrible to Takuya..." Kouji glared at her.  
  
"You...wouldn't." She smiled.  
  
"Want to make a bet? I control them...I can tell them to do anything I want them too. If I want them too 'accidentally' strangle Takuya to death, than strangle him they would." Kouji grimaced and than he sighed in defeat...he didn't want anything happening to Takuya...and he somehow knew that Zoey wouldn't give up unless she had him to herself for the night...  
  
"Zoey, I'm not even interested in girls! I never have been!" He protested, but Zoey just shook her head.  
  
"Just one night...please?" She pleaded, and Kouji sighed and shook his head.  
  
"Alright...alright...just...don't hurt Takuya." He whispered, hating the defeated feeling that was starting to rise up in his chest, and she smiled and skipped a little, clapping her hands once. Vineramon came up then, and stood right next to her.  
  
"Vineramon, show Kouji to my-our-quarters...I'm going to check on the prisoners real quick..." She said with a giggle, as Kouji felt a strong arm guide him away from Zoey toward another section of the temple.  
  
"Zoey! Don't hurt Takuya or I swear I'll make you pay!" He hollered, struggling but finding it to no prevail...Vineramon was stronger than he was...  
  
As soon as Kouji disappeared from view, Zoey laughed a low, evil laugh that didn't sound quite like herself-maybe because she wasn't herself.  
  
"Oh Kouji...I'm not going to hurt your little koi...I might mess with his mind a little bit, maybe make his love for you suffer...but I'm not going to hurt him...besides, I need him for my plan...need him, and you. For revenge is so sweet..." As Zoey laughed again and headed outside, the room turned dark...but what Kouji or any of the other Digi Destined hadn't seen in the room, was the real Zoey...hanging by vines, being forced to watch it all...she struggled, oh yes, she had fought against the one pretending to be her with all her might...but in the end she had lost...screamed even in pain as the vines had wrapped themselves around her and pierced her with their thorns, drawing blood.  
  
Now she started to cry...her friends had just been there...and she was there...but not there...someone else was pretending to be her...Zoey- the real Zoey-only hoped that one of her friends-maybe even JP-would realize that the 'Zoey' wasn't really Zoey...but something else. Zoey would've never hurt Takuya or Kouji that way...the way that the fake Zoey wanted too...sure she had been mad at them at first, but...not anymore.  
  
Zoey silently vowed, as she continued to struggle against the vines that held her prisoner.  
  
TBC  
  
AN: Bwahahahahaha! Another chapter out for me! And this one will probably be a two parter, because I didn't feel like having it all happen in one chapter-besides, it's fun torturing you guys with cliffhangers like this! :P (I've had it done to me one too many times lately with Takouji fics that I've been finding-so all you Takouji author's that're out there reading this, GET UPDATING! ^_~) Oh, and in the last fic, the song lyrics that I used were from Evanescence's 'Fallen' CD...the song was My Last Breath, in case if I didn't say it in the disclaimer last time, I don't own the and was just borrowing them for my fic because I thought it fit perfectly there...^-^ If you like dark, goth music, go and check them out because their CD IS really good...  
  
ANYWAY, here's a sneak peak for you for the next chapter because I made you all wait so long...don't forget to review please!!!!!!!!!!! ^-^  
  
~***~  
  
Takuya was cold...freezing actually...and the pouring down rain didn't help him much. Not only did he not know where Zoey had the vines take JP and Tommy, but with Kouji back at the Temple with Zoey...he shuddered. He knew that Kouji didn't prefer girls...he knew it...but he also knew that this would test their relationship. He had to trust Kouji, he had to trust that he wouldn't do anything against his own will...but what if...what if somehow Zoey did something to him? Did something to him to make him forget who Takuya was, and his feelings for him?  
  
The brunette stifled a cry, and tried to unstuck the sob that threatened to escape him. His body shook, but not from emotion but from the cold that was soaking it's way through his skin. He tried to rub his hands up and down as he tried to warm himself, but...but he wished that Kouji was there to warm him up instead. He knew that if the raven haired teen was there with him, he wouldn't be half as cold or as uncomfortable as he was now.  
  
Without warning though, the vines unwrapped themselves, causing the cage to slack as they instead wrapped themselves around Takuya's body...he was getting used to this by now. Now it was only because Zoey commanded them to do so-which meant that she had something planned for him.  
  
Takuya shivered as the vines started moving forward...at first he thought that they were going to take him to the temple where he had last seen Kouji...but instead they moved in another direction, and further up. There was a few huts to where he was taken too, and he didn't see any Digimon...or any sign of Zoey either. Instead, he saw the Digimon that had stepped out of the shadows...what was his name again...Vineramon?  
  
"What do you want?" Takuya asked coldly, his arms crossing over his chest...partly for the look of defiance, and partly for the fact that it helped keep him warm.  
  
"You." Takuya raised an eyebrow as he heard the Digimon's slippery voice for the first time.  
  
"Me?"  
  
"Yes, you. Your help actually is what I want."  
  
"Uh huh...yeah, you want my help and yet I get stuck in a cage, and I'm soaking wet?" Vineramon looked at him for a moment, before ushering him inside one of the huts.  
  
"Come inside." Takuya hesitated before accepting the offer, and stepped inside...to his surprise, a warm fire was set and roaring, the hut warm. He was glad he had accepted Vineramon's offer then as he sat in front of the fire and held his hands out to it. Vineramon stood a little bit away, in the shadow watching Takuya for a few minutes as he warmed his numb hands and removed his red outer shirt, placing it a little closer so to let it dry.  
  
"Warm enough?" The Digimon startled the brunette, who nodded.  
  
"Good."  
  
"You know...I don't know if you're just being nice to me because Zoey ordered it and is going to do something horrible to me later, or if you're just being nice to me because you're just generally that way and don't like to show it." Vineramon offered Takuya a small, wry smile.  
  
"Think what you like. Actually my people were once very kind and generous, but a cold and corrupted spirit came, and stripped that all away. Now most of my people are either gone or deceased...or slaves taken away to work for the spirit..." Takuya's eyes opened wide...by spirit did he mean a spirit like one of theirs?  
  
"Um...what kind of spirit is this exactly?" Vineramon sighed.  
  
"You might not understand...even we're not sure where it came from, we really aren't. But what we do know, is that it can possess your very heart and turn you into a cold person...it'll basically make you become the opposite of what or who you really are. It turned many of my people insane- it'll use you, corrupt you, and than drop you." Takuya shuddered.  
  
"That sounds...awful...dreadful..."  
  
"There is another spirit that we know of, one that'll be able to defeat the evil one...but we have yet to find it or even figure it out where it is...could you help us?"  
  
"Why do you want my help?"  
  
"Because we saw you and the others fighting the Sneemon...our vines can travel many other places and they were watching you...they believe that you can help lift this curse on our village." Takuya sighed.  
  
"I-I guess we can try...but...I'm going to need some help." Vineramon nodded.  
  
"Of course, your friends you mean...the chubby one and the small one?" Takuya choked on his laughter, and only nodded instead.  
  
"JP and Tommy...the chubby one and the small one...yeah, those'd be them...is there any chance that you might be able to get them here?" Vineramon nodded.  
  
"I shall try and do as you ask young one...but...I'm not sure...I've got to somehow get beyond Ms. Zoey's control...it wasn't easy doing it to get you out...let me see what I can do. In the meantime, I want you to stay in here until I come and get you." As Vineramon turned to leave, Takuya watched him go...but went after him, wanting to know one more thing.  
  
"VINERAMON!" The Digimon turned around and saw Takuya at the doorway of the hut, a questioning look in his eyes.  
  
"Kouji...my friend-the one that was forced to stay behind with Zoey- can you...can you help him? I mean, I know he's not interested in her at all, like she might be interested in him...if you can't bring him here like you might be able to do with JP or Tommy, can you at least watch over him for me? Until I can find a way to rescue him and your village?" Vineramon seemed to consider this for a moment, before slowly nodding his head.  
  
"I will do my best young Takuya. But I can't promise anything...but if you manage to save my village, I will make sure that your friend is safe." Takuya nodded as he turned around and started to leave once more...he barely heard what Takuya said next, but he still heard it.  
  
"He's more than my friend...I love him..." Takuya whispered, and he didn't hear what Vineramon said upon his departure:  
  
"You're going to have more than him that you're going to have to save Takuya...Zoey isn't all she seems to be...but your heart is in the right place...and so is hers-you just have yet to see it...keep your friends close, but your enemies closer." 


	9. Thunder Spirit Part II

Disclaimer: I so 100 percent of the way do NOT own Digimon...if I did I'd make sure that in every season all the loner boys and goggle heads were together instead of having the writers just playing around with us...as that has yet to happen though...I don't own it...*sigh*  

Author's Notes:  Inspiration...I FINALLY got the Pirates of the Carribean Soundtrack and I LOVE it...It's sooo good...I was totally listening to it when I was writing this fic and started working on a couple of others.  The music is so awesome and very well done...^-^  (Not to mention it 100 percent of the way fits the movie...which I also adore...^-^)  ANYWAY, since this fic has NOTHING to do with POTC, I guess I need to apologize for this chapter being out so very late.  BUT, the good news is that I've also got the NEXT chapter (chapter 11) out as well...eleven chapters...I still can't believe it's gotten that long...and this fic is only going to et longer too.  Since I was in such a writing mood I decided to go ahead and do chapter 11 as well and get the three parts of Thunder Spirit done...and yes, I AM working on chapter 12 now too...::evil grin::  You guys will have NO idea what I'm going to do next...anyway, I'm done rambling now so on with the long awaited chapters!  (One more thing…I decided to change the spelling of Vineramon's name…it's now Vin_air_amon…so if you realize that it might be misspelled here and there, it's probably because I didn't get them all changed…-_-;; though I think I DID get all of the ones I'd misspelled previously…)  

Warnings:  If you haven't figured out by now that this fic contains Slash/Yaoi, than I'm honestly shocked and surprised that you HAVEN'T for all that's happened.  If for some reason you HAVEN'T figured out that by now Takuya and Kouji are a couple, and don't like that kind of stuff then leave now or forever hold your flames.  (Some Zoey bashing in the next couple of chapters too…-_-;; not a lot, just a *little*…)    

Story Rating: PG/borderline PG13 

Yaoi pairing:  Takuya/Kouji

Non Yaoi:  JP/Zoey hints  

Recap:  Last chapter Takuya, Kouji, and the other Digi Destined ended up getting captured by plant-like vines who ended up trapping them in cages.  When the Digi Destined were finally brought to the 'leader' they were surprised to see that it was none other than Zoey...but...something seemed..._wrong_ with her.  Now she's got Kouji trapped in the temple with her and poor Takuya's out back in the cage he had once shared with Kouji earlier.  Except that someone's come to make sure that Zoey is stopped...

THIS chapter:  Vinairamon is playing Zoey for time and information on what she's planning to do with Kouji, meanwhile he finds out that Zoey definitely _isn't Zoey but has been overcome by a spirit of someone he used to know and admire.  When he manages to free JP and Tommy and get back to Takuya with this new found information Takuya's more worried about Kouji now than ever...he knows that Kouji won't bow down to anyone...right...?  And what has JP got to do with all of this?    _

Different Journeys 

Author: Angel Spirit 

Chapter 10:  Thunder Spirit Part II 

            Takuya was cold...freezing actually...and the pouring down rain didn't help him much. Not only did he not know where Zoey had the vines take JP and Tommy, but with Kouji back at the Temple with Zoey...he shuddered. He knew that Kouji didn't prefer girls...he knew it...but he also knew that this would test their relationship. He had to trust Kouji, he had to trust that he wouldn't do anything against his own will...but what if...what if somehow Zoey did something to him? Did something to him to make him forget who Takuya was, and his feelings for him?  
  
The brunette stifled a cry, and tried to unstuck the sob that threatened to escape him. His body shook, but not from emotion but from the cold that was soaking its way through his skin. He tried to rub his hands up and down as he tried to warm himself, but...but he wished that Kouji was there to warm him up instead. He knew that if the raven haired teen was there with him, he wouldn't be half as cold or as uncomfortable as he was now.  
  
Without warning though, the vines unwrapped themselves, causing the cage to slack as they instead wrapped themselves around Takuya's body...he was getting used to this by now. Now it was only because Zoey commanded them to do so-which meant that she had something planned for him.  
  
Takuya shivered as the vines started moving forward...at first he thought that they were going to take him to the temple where he had last seen Kouji...but instead they moved in another direction, and further up. There was a few huts to where he was taken too, and he didn't see any Digimon...or any sign of Zoey either. Instead, he saw the Digimon that had stepped out of the shadows...what was his name again...Vinairamon?  
  
"What do you want?" Takuya asked coldly, his arms crossing over his chest...partly for the look of defiance, and partly for the fact that it helped keep him warm.  
  
"You." Takuya raised an eyebrow as he heard the Digimon's slippery voice for the first time.  
  
"Me?"  
  
"Yes, you. Your help actually is what I want."  
  
"Uh huh...yeah, you want my help and yet I get stuck in a cage, and I'm soaking wet?" Vinairamon looked at him for a moment, before ushering him inside one of the huts.  
  
"Come inside." Takuya hesitated before accepting the offer, and stepped inside...to his surprise, a warm fire was set and roaring, the hut warm. He was glad he had accepted Vinairamon's offer then as he sat in front of the fire and held his hands out to it. Vinairamon stood a little bit away, in the shadow watching Takuya for a few minutes as he warmed his numb hands and removed his red outer shirt, placing it a little closer so to let it dry.  
  
"Warm enough?" The Digimon startled the brunette, who nodded.  
  
"Good."  
  
"You know...I don't know if you're just being nice to me because Zoey ordered it and is going to do something horrible to me later, or if you're just being nice to me because you're just generally that way and don't like to show it." Vinairamon offered Takuya a small, wry smile.  
  
"Think what you like. Actually my people were once very kind and generous, but a cold and corrupted spirit came, and stripped that all away. Now most of my people are either gone or deceased...or slaves taken away to work for the spirit..." Takuya's eyes opened wide...by spirit did he mean a spirit like one of theirs?  
  
"Um...what kind of spirit is this exactly?" Vinairamon sighed.  
  
"You might not understand...even we're not sure where it came from, we really aren't. But what we do know, is that it can possess your very heart and turn you into a cold person...it'll basically make you become the opposite of what or who you really are. It turned many of my people insane- it'll use you, corrupt you, and than drop you." Takuya shuddered.  
  
"That sounds...awful...dreadful..."  
  
"There is another spirit that we know of, one that'll be able to defeat the evil one...but we have yet to find it or even figure it out where it is...could you help us?"  
  
"Why do you want my help?"  
  
"Because we saw you and the others fighting the Sneemon...our vines can travel many other places and they were watching you...they believe that you can help lift this curse on our village." Takuya sighed.  
  
"I-I guess we can try...but...I'm going to need some help." Vinairamon nodded.  
  
"Of course, your friends you mean...the chubby one and the small one?" Takuya choked on his laughter, and only nodded instead.  
  
"JP and Tommy...the chubby one and the small one...yeah, those'd be them...is there any chance that you might be able to get them here?" Vinairamon nodded.  
  
"I shall try and do as you ask young one...but...I'm not sure...I've got to somehow get beyond Ms. Zoey's control...it wasn't easy doing it to get you out...let me see what I can do. In the meantime, I want you to stay in here until I come and get you." As Vineramon turned to leave, Takuya watched him go...but went after him, wanting to know one more thing.  
  
"VINAIRAMON!" The Digimon turned around and saw Takuya at the doorway of the hut, a questioning look in his eyes.  
  
"Kouji...my friend-the one that was forced to stay behind with Zoey- can you...can you help him? I mean, I know he's not interested in her at all, like she might be interested in him...if you can't bring him here like you might be able to do with JP or Tommy, can you at least watch over him for me? Until I can find a way to rescue him and your village too?"  Vinairamon seemed to consider this for a moment, before slowly nodding his head.  
  
"I will do my best young Takuya. But I can't promise anything...but if you manage to save my village, I will make sure that your friend is safe." Takuya nodded as he turned around and started to leave once more...he barely heard what Takuya said next, but he still heard it.  
  
"He's more than my friend...I love him..." Takuya whispered, and he didn't hear what Vinairamon said upon his departure:  
  
"You're going to have more than him that you're going to have to save Takuya...Zoey isn't all she seems to be...but your heart is in the right place...and so is hers-you just have yet to see it...keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."

            Takuya sat in the hut, no longer shivering.  Instead at the moment he was listening to his stomach growling as he realized that he-nor any of the others-had ate in quite some time.  Rubbing his stomach as if to sooth the cramps he was getting from an empty belly, he stood and went over to where the opening of the hut had once been, feeling very much like a prisoner once again.  Even though Vinairamon had managed to release him of his old prison-which had been very cramped and uncomfortable-he had now been trapped in this hut, as Vinairamon hadn't thought him liable enough to _not_ go after Kouji on his own.  

            Which, was probably a good thing that he had done so.  Because with the worry that was constantly flooding through him about his Koi now, made Takuya want to go after him every second he thought about whatever it was that Zoey could do with him.  

            Although Vinairamon had told him time and time again that it was _not Zoey...to hold his friends close but his enemies closer..._

            And just how was he supposed to hold his friends close...(here now he started thinking about Kouji, who was _definitely more than a friend and wouldn't mind holding him close to him once so ever)...when they weren't even around?  He sighed and sat back down near the fire, wishing that Vinairamon would hurry back with information...and maybe even some food..._

            ~***~

            "My lady."  Vinairamon found himself bowing down to 'Zoey', who was looking at him rather impatiently.  

            "Make sure that no harm comes to the one called Takuya...he's going to be part of my little plan and I don't want that little plan to be destroyed...do you understand me Vinairamon?"  The evil digimon-or _supposedly evil digimon-nodded.  _

            "Yes my lady...so, since I'm not allowed to have anyone destroy your 'plan' can I ask exactly what your plan is?"  'Zoey' gave a little laugh.  

            "Of course...I trust you completely, more than any of the other fools who used to serve me."  At the words 'used to' Vinairamon winced and stood up again.  

            "You can always trust me my lady."  'Zoey' grinned at him.  

            "I know I can.  Which is why I'm telling you my plan.  I'm going to make Kouji mine, whether he wants to or not-I'm sick of all the cute boys being...weird...on me, and that's putting it politely."  She huffed, tossing back a few strands of blond hair that had fallen into her blue eyes.  

            "But I _know that in order to do that some...persuasion...might be involved.  Which is why I need Takuya Kanbara-of all people-to help me with that.  See, I know that Kouji would do __anything for no harm to come to his Koi...he threatened me earlier not to harm him, remember?"  Vinairamon nodded...oh yes, he remembered...he remembered the look of anger on Kouji Minomoto's face as he took him away from his friends...and his lover.  Vinairamon suddenly felt a little weird and realized with a start that he felt..._guilty_.  _

            "And how do you plan to use Takuya Kanbara in all of this?"  'Zoey' gave him a look with her eyes that clearly said 'you're not thinking evil enough.'  

            "Oh, you'll find out soon enough...I'm going to go into see Kouji right now and see how he's getting along with me...plants...in the meantime, go and make sure that no harm has come to Takuya and when I call I want you to bring him to me.  Got it?"  Vinairamon nodded and turned to leave but thought about something he wanted to ask her.  

            "And the other's...the other two children...what do you plan on doing with them?"  'Zoey' frowned and thought about it for a minute or so.  

            "Throw them off the side of a cliff for all I care about, they're not included in my plans..."  She declared and stormed off into the chamber where she had left Kouji.  Vinairamon frowned and when he had passed the room that he had known the other Zoey-the _real_ Zoey-was in, he bowed to her.  She gave him a look of confusion in her blue eyes, that were every bit as kind as the fake Zoey's was evil.  

            "You have the heart my fair lady...hold onto that and never let go of hope.  You'll get your revenge when the time comes...and when that time _does_ come, you'll be able to prove to your two friends that you do care for them as only _friends...and they'll learn to trust you once again."  Zoey nodded, silent tears forming in her eyes as the vines were folded over her mouth, enabling her to speak.  As she watched Vinairamon leave, she let the tears fall...but she also had a small sense of triumph that was growing deep down inside her...she knew she was going to get out of this...and when she did, she was going to kick some _serious_ butt.  _

~***~

            Kouji was gazing up at the stars...feeling...nervous?  Rebellious?  He didn't know which one at the moment...maybe a little bit of both.  Zoey had trapped him in what appeared to be a large room-there was a _huge_ bed against the far wall, and the lighting was dim.  There was soft music playing in the background and roses all around, including some that seemed to be sprouting from the walls.  He made a face.  

            Someone has a _really_ bad fashion taste...and for some reason I _don't_ think that it's Zoey.  He frowned.  Zoey had always had a fashion sense...the comforter on the bed was black as well as the sheets and the pillowcases.  He didn't know where the lighting came from, but it came out as a soft pink.  

            Nothing but a bad nightmare, that's all this is.  At least he had a window to look out from.  He could see that the storm had stopped and that some of the clouds were disappearing, allowing him to see the dark blue sky, and the stars.  He wondered if Takuya could see the stars, as he was seeing the stars...well, maybe not as comfortably...but, at this point in time he'd rather be watching the stars from a cramped cage _with_ Takuya than watching the stars from inside a room-a room that Zoey would probably enter in at any minute.  

            "What does she want with us anyway?"  He asked himself out loud and was startled to get an answer.  

            "Oh, you'll soon see enough my sweet Kouji."  Kouji whirled around, his hands clenched at his sides to see Zoey standing in the doorway, leaning against it...she had changed since he had last seen her and she was now wearing a black dress that had only one strap holding it up-her right arm and shoulder were completely bare, as the left arm bore the strap that held the dress up.  The dress went to the floor and it had a slit on the right side of it, clearly showing off Zoey's right leg-but Kouji wasn't interested in the slightest.  At the moment, his mind was on Takuya...as it always had been lately.  

            "But in the _meantime_, let's enjoy ourselves, shall we?"  She asked sweetly as she sauntered up to him and leaned up against him as she joined him in looking at the stars.  

            "They're beautiful, aren't they?"  Zoey purred into his ear, and Kouji flinched and moved away so that Zoey nearly fell on her face.  She straightened herself and gave a little growl of irritation.  Flipping her hair over one shoulder, she decided to try again as she practically launched herself onto the dark haired teenager.  It took Kouji a minute to realize what Zoey was doing and pushed herself off from him.  

            "Not interested Zoey...you know that.  Takuya and I _told you and JP and Tommy that we're __together."  But Zoey seemed unphased by this.  _

            "Oh, but what do you see in that..._boy_...he's practically _nothing_."  Kouji shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest.  

            "He's _not nothing.  Hardly nothing.  Takuya's different, he's...he's..."  Kouji found himself thinking hard as he tried to figure out exactly what Takuya was.  _

            "He's the best thing that ever happened to me."  He whispered, knowing how true that was.  He'd never quite met a boy like Takuya Kanbara.  

            "Really?  I'll make sure then, that I'll be better."  Zoey said, her voice bittersweet as she pulled Kouji toward her so they were face to face, and very, very close...

~***~

            The vines that created the door to the hut started to unravel themselves as Takuya stirred from the restless sleep that he had fallen into while trying to fall asleep, thinking of no better way to pass the time.  But his thoughts kept on going to Kouji and what was going on back in that temple with Zoey.  

            Vinairamon came in, looking a little...miffed...followed by...

            "JP!  Tommy!  Are you two alright?!?"  Takuya asked as both teens came in, looking a little ruffled but otherwise fine.  They both nodded at Takuya, and he sighed.  

            "What's going on?  Why is ugly here bringing us to this place?"  JP asked as he sat down next to Takuya, and when he glanced over at Vinairamon he saw the Digimon make a face as Tommy edged away from him and sat on the other side of Takuya on the makeshift bed-which, was of course, made out of vines as well.  

            "Because 'ugly' is going to help you get your friends back."  Vinairamin replied, and Takuya grinned a little...he had to give it to him...the Digimon took JP's rude comment with a calm leisure.  

            "Oh..."  JP frowned at this as he tried to work it all out in his head.  

            "Vinairamon 'works' for Zoey...he's going to try to get any information on what she's planning to us and from there, we'll form a plan as to how to get out of here and help his people regain their right to be here."  Tommy eyed Vinairamon with the same look of suspicion that JP was.  

            "And how do we know that you're not just going to try and turn us in?"  He asked, suddenly feeling brave.  Vinairamon smiled a smile that sent shivers down Takuya's spine...it was everything but pleasant.  

            "Because, I want my kingdom back...and my love as well."  Both Tommy and JP fell over at this.  

            "LOVE?!?"  Even Takuya was shocked...Vinairamon had never mentioned anything about a lover before.  Vinairamon nodded.  

            "Oh yes...love...see, the Zoey you encountered..._wasn't Zoey...your Zoey anyway.  This Zoey is...how do you say...a shape shifter.  Who shifted into the form of Zoey the moment she saw her, knowing that she could work her magic on the rest of you to trick you all into thinking that she _was_ the true Zoey no matter _how_ she acted.  And needless to say, it worked."  The three boys who were sitting on the makeshift bed froze.  _

            "What...do you mean...that that girl that we saw back in the temple _isn't Zoey?!?  Where's the __real Zoey?!?"  JP demanded, standing up with his hands clenched into fists before him.  Takuya stood and urged him to sit back down...which the boy did...still glaring at Vinairamon and wanting an answer.  _

            Vinairamon sighed.  

            "It's a long story...but...we have time for it."  He said, and Takuya shook his head.  

            "We _don't have time for it...if that's not __really Zoey in there with my koi, than I don't know who is and I'm not sure that she's not going to try and hurt him!"  Tommy and JP looked over at Takuya with surprise as he had a look of determination on his face...but yet there was fear in his eyes.  It was the first time they'd heard Takuya call Kouji his koi.  _

            "She won't hurt him...her plan isn't to hurt him...but to hurt...you."  The Digimon said, pointing to Takuya who frowned.  

            "What?"  He didn't get it.  Apparently from the look on Takuya's face, Vinairamon figured that out and shook his head.  

            "She's figured that if she hurts you, than Kouji would do anything...even love her..."  Takuya's mind went numb with shock...he realized that Vinairamon was right.  And if the fake Zoey _was_ going to do something like that...they needed a plan of action.  _Now.  _

            "Why would she want Kouji in the first place if _you love her?"  Tommy asked in a small voice, and Vinairamon gave a small, sad smile.  _

            "Because...she can't love someone that's stuck in a plant form can she?"  The three boys stared at him, and with that, Vinairamon started in on his story.  

            "I'll give you the shortened version since I don't think that we have much time.  Long ago-the fake Zoey-who's real name is Serenamon-and I were engaged to be married.  We're shape shifting Digimon, and therefore can shape shift into practically anything.  Then one day...I'm not quite sure what happened.  Serenamon turned...powerful.  She suddenly had the power to control those who shape shifted, and could force them to stay in the last shape that they shifted into forever."  

            "So how'd you all wind up as plants?"  JP asked, interrupting the Digimon who glared at him and held  up a hand.  

            "I'm not finished yet with my story am I?"  JP looked a little baffled and shrunk down a little in his seat.  

            "Anyway, it was planting season in our village and many of us turn into what it is that's being planted in our village so we can understand what the growing process is like.  That day something snapped inside my bride, and she magically forced us to stay in the plants that we had shifted into by an orb that she had started to carry around with her.  This orb contained some kind of power.  She stayed in her own form, able to shape shift whenever she wanted too...but the rest of us were stuck.  Eventually she drove the rest of our people away so that only I remained, trying to understand why she had done such a thing.  Eventually the area around us-what had once been our village-grew wild.  My touch turned everything to vines, trapped the both of us up here...but at one point she vanished and I had no idea where she was.  Until now that is."  Vinairamon sighed heavily and shook his head.  

            "I don't know what to do with her.  I told her this wasn't a good idea, messing around with humans...and from what I've heard from the trees and such, you guys possess the power of spirits, don't you?  Spirits that turn you into Digimon?"  The three boys looked at each other feeling uneasy...they'd have to completely trust Vinairamon in order to tell him that what he was saying was true.  Finally, Takuya slowly nodded.  

            "Yeah...it's true.  If you can trust us to help you, we'll help you...but you've also-"  He was cut off when Vinairamon held up a hand and cocked his head off to the side.  

            "She beckons."  Takuya went rigid as Vinairamon murmured this, looking uneasy.  

            "_She_?  You mean...the fake Zoey...what's her name...Serenamon...beckons you?"  Vinairamon nodded, his eyes sharp.  

            "Yes...but she also beckons me to do a command as well."  Feeling uneasy, JP and Tommy both scooted closer to Takuya, who stood up causing the two boys to look at each other and sigh.  So much for the idea that Takuya would protect them.  

            "What command does she give?"  As soon as he asked this, Vinairamon seized him by the arm.  At first Takuya was surprised and started to struggle.  

            "Struggling will _not_ help you...her command was for me to bring you to her.  And as I serve her, I will do so."  Takuya gasped and continued to struggle.  

            "No way!  If what you said back there was true, that she'd try to hurt me to get to Kouji...NO!"  JP and Tommy had stood up by now and were slowly moving in circles so that Tommy was still in front of Vinairamon and JP had moved to the back.  They were ready to attack when vines shot up from the floor of the hut and wrapped themselves around the teens, binding their arms and legs so they couldn't move, no matter how hard they struggled.  Tommy and JP watched as Vinairamon practically dragged a struggling Takuya out of the hut and watched with wide eyes as the vines climbed up again creating the door that had trapped Takuya in the hut earlier.  

            "What are we going to do?"  Tommy whispered, as they heard thunder in the distance.  JP's body went slack...he suddenly felt a little weird.  It was as though the thunder was calling to him...

            "I don't know...but we'll think of something...we _have_ to.  Takuya and Kouji...and even Zoey are depending on us to think of a way out."  Tommy nodded and continued to struggle, but all JP did was stand there and listen to the thunder as it got louder and louder...

~***~

            "Why?"  Takuya demanded, struggling even more than he had before they'd left Tommy and JP.  They were now going up the steps of the Temple of Vines and Takuya found he was being dragged inside.  

            "Because even though she is evil, she still rules over me...she's my...my..."  

            "If you say she's your Queen or something like that, you're crazy!"  Takuya shouted, still struggling and then suddenly felt something-actually a bunch of tiny somethings-slice into his wrist and he yelped in pain and immediately ceased his struggles as he went limp with the unexpected pain.  

            "What...?"  He gasped, feeling blood as it started to trickle down his punctured and sliced wrist.  

            "You could've come quietly and that wouldn't have had to happen."  Vinairamon hissed and Takuya winced a little-more at the pain than at the tone of voice Vinairamon was speaking to him in.  His brown eyes hardened in anger.  

            "We should've never trusted you!"  Takuya whispered, and Vinairamon sighed and shook his head. 

            "Trust is a very hard thing to come by my young friend."  

            "You have some guts to still call me your friend."  

            "I am still on your side...though from here on out it may not seem like it.  I can not let her see that I am planning on helping you-so you _have_ to trust me.  Whether you want to or not."  The Digimon whispered, and Takuya could see in his dark eyes that he was indeed sorry for what happened.  

            "I must warn you-sometimes the vines do have thorns...as I was able to create here and now-which was what hurt you...Serenamon might try this."  Takuya nodded, his wrist feeling numb as Vinairamon stopped at a doorway and looked down at him.  

            "Trust me...or trust no one at all."  With that, he placed his vine-like hand on the door and the vines twirled down so that there was an opening into the room.  When they walked in, the vines sprung back into life...and Takuya had the uneasy feeling of being trapped once again...

TBC  

AN:  Part III is up now with this chapter...as a gift to all of you who have waited for so long for this one to come out...^-^  And if anyone saw any mistakes spelling wise, let me know will you?  Thanx!  


	10. Thunder Spirit Part III

Disclaimer:  I so 100 percent of the way DO NOT own Digimon.  If I _did_ own Digimon, this wouldn't be a fanfic, now would it?  =P  

Author's Notes:  I decided to be a nice authoress and bring out chapter 11 along with chapter 10 so that you guys could enjoy both of them at the same time.  I am SO on a roll with this fic that chapter 12 should be out within the next week or so...I've got so many good ideas for this now...^-^  It took me awhile but I think I know where this fic is finally gonna go.  (Thank my muses...^_~)  So, enough chit chat and on with the fic, right?  Just remember to enjoy the read and review when you're done!  

Story Rating:  PG13 (You'll see why later in this chapter...some of the chapters will be PG and others will be PG13 like this one here)  

Warning:  (I swear after chapter 12 the warnings will get shorter and shorter...=P)  YAOI/SLASH within...if you haven't figured that out by now and don't like it I suggest you leave or forever hold your flames...=P  

Yaoi Pairings: Takuya/Kouji 

Non Yaoi: JP/Zoey hints 

Chapter Summary:  Takuya and the others were in a pretty bad position last time we left.  We found out that Vinairamon was actually once in love with our villain who's name is Serenamon, who's been the one who has shape shifted into a fake Zoey and now has Kouji trapped...in her bedroom chamber of all places.  Her plan:  To hurt Takuya to make him love her...but Tommy and JP are still out there and they're thinking of a way to end it all and rescue their friends...but can they do it in time though?  And why is the call of thunder haunting JP?  

Different Journeys 

Author:  Angel Spirit 

Chapter 11: Thunder Spirit part III 

            Kouji didn't know what to do...Zoey was leaning into him...his mind was sent spinning into all sorts of different directions and before he knew it her lips were on his own.  They were like that for only a half a second before Kouji forced them apart and made a face as he brought up an arm and wiped his lips with a sleeve of his windbreaker.  

            "Zoey..."  He sputtered angrily, but all she did was bat her eyelashes at him.  

            "Yes?"  She cooed, and Kouji sighed...he'd just about had enough of this.  

            "I'm sorry...I...can't, you can't, _we_ can't.  I don't know _why you even want too...I'm...Zoey, I'm gay!  For pities sake don't look at me like that!"  Zoey was giving him an innocent look.  _

            "Oh, but Kouji...why not?  You're not really gay it's just your mind playing tricks on you...you don't really _love_ Takuya..."  Again, Kouji pushed her off of him.  

            "You know what?  You're nothing but a brat...I told you once, twice, now three times _I DON'T LOVE YOU_!"  This time Zoey smiled wickedly.  

            "Oh, but you will Kouji.  Even though you don't think that you do, you will.  See, I've got a plan..."  Suddenly the 'door' which was made up of nothing really but vines started to come undone and the Digimon who'd dragged Kouji into the bedroom chamber earlier came in...and Kouji gasped at who he saw next.  

            "TAKUYA!"  Takuya was struggling, and Kouji saw the blood dripping down his wrist and narrowed his eyes.  He saw Zoey smirk.  

            "Nicely done Vinairamon and _right in time I should say.  Marvelous...you can let him go now."  She said, indicating Takuya with a wave of her hand.  Vinairamon looked at her for a second as though she was crazy.  _

            "You..._want me to let go of him?"  He asked incredulously as she nodded and he did so.  Takuya was dropped unceremoniously to the ground where he fell to his knees and was massaging his numb, bleeding wrist.  Kouji, seeing the opportunity, pushed Zoey away from him and dashed over to where Takuya was kneeling, trying to wipe up the blood.  Seeing this, Kouji took off his bandanna and-despite the soft whistle that he got from Zoey at seeing his hair being taken down-took Takuya's right wrist into his own and wrapped it in the bandanna, making a makeshift bandage.  Takuya's eyes looked up right into his own and suddenly before either boy knew it they were immersed in a hug.  _

            "Kouji..."  Takuya whispered, shaking a little as he couldn't believe that Zoey had actually let Kouji go to him like that.  They stayed that way until Takuya felt the vines start to crawl over his legs and jerked out of Kouji's grasp.  At first Kouji looked at him with a question of 'what did I do wrong?'  And then noticed the vines as well and tries to help Takuya stand...but to no prevail...the vines had his legs tied to the floor.  

            "You..."  Kouji spun around so quickly he almost slipped on the vines and fell over, but managed to maintain his balance last minute.  He pointed an accusing finger at Zoey, who stood there with a look of triumph over her face.   

            "Oh...that was so very sweet Kouji, the way you took care of his wrist like that...but there might be a lot more to take care of with our dear Takuya than a bleeding wrist.  And has anyone told you how _handsome_ you look without that horrible bandanna on your head?"  Kouji growled softly, his arms crossing over his chest in defiance, and if looks could kill, Zoey would be dead where she stood.  

            "I wouldn't say or do anything that might cause the vines to get upset...see, the vines share my feelings...and if they know that I'm..._unhappy, then they get unhappy as well.  And they might accidentally, well...__harm Takuya."  Takuya gasped and as Kouji turned to see what had happened his mouth fell open at what he saw.  There were vines __covering Takuya's arms and legs...they had lifted him up off the ground so that he was hanging in mid air...there was even a thick vine around his torso.  _

            "So Kouji, the question now is: Do you have what it takes to make me happy?"  

~***~

            JP couldn't take it any longer.  The sound of the thunder was growing stronger in his mind and he wanted _so badly to be...what?  Closer to it?  But how could you be closer to thunder?  JP started to shake...he didn't know what was wrong with him...suddenly everything felt wrong.  It felt wrong having Takuya gone and knowing that he was with Kouji and that they were in danger.  _

            He saw Tommy looking at him and he gave the younger boy a weakened smile.  

            "What's up?"  JP asked casually, pretending like nothing was wrong.  All Tommy did was snort softly and shake his head.

            "We need to _do_ something, that's what's up!  I don't like the thought of the evil Zoey being in their with Takuya and Kouji!  You saw the way that she reacted originally when they decided to travel with us, and when she found out that Kouji and Takuya were together!"  JP nodded.

            "Yes, but what choice do we have?  If you haven't noticed, there is no way out."  JP added bitterly, wanting to be out of the hut _very_ badly...he was feeling a _little_ claustrophobic.  

            "Man...what I'd give to be out of this hut...it's driving me crazy!"  JP declared, standing up and heading over to where the vines had created a door when Vinairamon had left.  He raised his hands into fists and started pounding hard on the vine-like door. 

            "Lemme out!  Lemme out!"  He cried, pounding as hard as he could.  Tommy sweat dropped as he glanced in JP's direction and started to move toward him, wanting him to stop...the hut wasn't _that_ bad...but JP was restless, Tommy could see that much.  Before Tommy could stop him though, the vines suddenly gave away-and JP soon found himself pounding on the chest of Vinairamon, who stared down at him with cold eyes.  JP jumped back, looking quite surprised and bit his lower lip as he offered an apology.

            "Heh...sorry about that...I'm...feeling a little claustrophobic."  Vinairamon nodded at him.

            "Apology accepted...but you both need to come with me _now.  Time is running short to save your friends from my lover's clutches."  JP and Tommy both nodded. _

            "So...we're out of here?"  JP asked, and Vinairamon nodded.

            "Yes, but first a plan must be formed...you two just can't go charging in there..."  The vine Digimon seemed to hesitate for a second before sighing.  

            "There is something I should tell you...if...if the one I love makes love to either one of the two boy's stuck in their with her...she will become too powerful and there will be no way to stop her...the boy she chooses to make love to-will die."  Both boys froze upon hearing this and Tommy gave a low cry of disbelief. 

            "NO!  We _can't_ let that happen!  Takuya and Kouji just joined us...!"  He gasped, and Vinairamon gave him a look of...what...was it pity?  

            "Yeah, there's no way we can't let that happen!  Please Vinairamon, will you help us?"  JP asked, knowing that while he couldn't be much of a help without his spirit, then at least maybe Vinairamon could help Tommy someway.  Vinairamon nodded.

            "Yes, I can help you and I will...I still love Serenamon, even though she doesn't see it...all she sees is what I'm made of.  She does not know how to look deeper."  The two boys nodded at this.

            "What can we do?"  As Tommy asked this, Vinairamon nodded in the direction of the Temple.

            "I've got a plan...but first we need to free the _real_ Zoey...and _that_ is going to be a challenge within itself, for we do not have time to loose."  And with that, Vinairamon turned and walked out of the hut, toward the temple.  Tommy and JP exchanged a look and nodded at each other as they followed him, wondering what plan Vinairamon had in mind...

~***~

            Kouji didn't know what to do...he didn't want to give into Zoey's evil plans...but he didn't want Takuya to get hurt either...he was stuck.  Glancing over at where the vines had Takuya dangling, Kouji sighed and lowered his head, one of his hands clenched tightly into a fist at his side.  

            "I don't believe you...I don't think that you'd hurt Takuya."  Kouji muttered, trying to buy himself some time as he thought about a plan...any plan would work at this moment...any plan to get him and Takuya out of here.

            After this, I'm not sure if I want to travel with these guys anymore...this is just too strange!  Kouji thought, lifting his head so that his dark blue gray eyes met with Zoey's brown innocent ones...or at least she tried to feign innocent.  

            "Oh, but Kouji you don't know me very well, now do you?"  She smiled coyly and suddenly Kouji heard Takuya gasp out in pain as he looked over and saw the vine around his chest start to tighten.  

            "There are so many things to be done...and I just don't know where to start!"  Zoey murmured, the laughter clearly showing in her eyes.  Kouji shook his head and stepped away from her, closer to Takuya.

            "I told you as many times as you wouldn't listen, I am _not available!"  Kouji snapped, feeling as though he had had enough of this.  Zoey only shook her head and smiled as she stepped closer to him...so very close..._

            "Now, now, that's no way to make me happy, is it?"  She whispered, and Kouji froze as she let one of her slender hands trail down his cheek...

~***~

            "So wait a minute, you're saying that Zoey isn't Zoey?  I mean, the Zoey that's in there with Kouji and Takuya _isn't_ the Zoey that we know?"  Vinairamon nodded at JP's question.  

            "Correct my young friend...the Zoey you know is being held captive...as I told you before my lover is a shape shifter Digimon...in order to have her taken on Zoey's appearance all the time, she'd have to do something with the real Zoey.  Once the real Zoey comes into the same room with my love, her appearance of Zoey will be no more...she can not hold the same shape of another if they are in the same room."  JP looked a little puzzled, and so did Tommy.

            "So all we have to do is get Zoey under whatever lock and key Serenamon has her under and get into the room that Serenamon is in with Kouji and Takuya?  Sounds like a piece of cake."  JP muttered, casting a look over in Tommy's direction to see what he thought.  The youth only shrugged, looking a little nervous as he held out his detector. 

            "Should I?"  He whispered as they neared the temple, and JP glanced over at Vinairamon, who nodded.  

            "Execute!  Spirit Evolution!"  As JP watched while Tommy Digivolved into Kumamon; he felt a pang of jealousy.  Another flash of lightning drove through the darkened sky above, and the thunder rumbled shortly after it.  JP had no idea why the thunder was affecting him so badly...when he blinked next, he saw Kumamon standing before him, ready as ever and the small bear-like Digimon nodded.

            "Let's go...the sooner we can get Takuya, Kouji, and Zoey out of here the better!"  JP nodded at Tommy's sincerity and they dashed toward the Temple, but Vinairamon stopped and shook his head at the two.

            "Let me go in first...I will cause a distraction...hopefully Kouji's resisted whatever Serenamon had thrown at him."  The two boys nodded as they watched while Vinairamon headed into the Temple.  They waited a few minutes before they too entered, and began the search for Zoey.  At first it seemed nearly impossible, but then Kumamon found a room-barely noticeable because the door was nothing but a little slit in the wall-and peered inside, gasping with joy as he found what they were looking for and called over to JP before dashing inside.  

            "It's Zoey!"  As he said this, Zoey's head snapped up and her eyes opened wide, small tears started to form in her eyes as JP and Tommy dashed over to where she was being held captive.  

            "Hang on Zoey, I'll get you out of there!"  Kumamon declared, and with JP's help the two boys managed to free the blonde, who sunk to the ground as her legs had lost all feeling as they'd been tied up in the vines for way to long.  

            "JP...Tommy...I...I didn't think you guys would figure it out..."  She whispered, as JP helped her to stand, she flinched a little as the blood started to flow through her legs again.  

            "Don't think we'd just leave you here!  Kouji and Takuya are in trouble!"  Tommy told her, and she nodded at them.

            "I know, I know...I want to do anything I can to help them..."  

            "Then we've got to get you into the same room as Serenamon!  She's the one who's been masquarading as you!  She wants Kouji _or_ Takuya!  But we think she wants Kouji more!"  Zoey looked puzzled and as they made their way out of the room, JP quietly explained the situation.  Zoey's blue eyes opened wide with horror.

            "She can't do that!  If she does that, Takuya will think it's all my fault!  And it's not!  I don't want any of this to be my fault!  I accept Takuya and Kouji being together now!  We need to stop Serenamon!  NOW!"  Zoey pulled out her Detector, but Tommy stopped her with a paw.

            "No...you can't, remember?  It's not Kazemon that Serenamon needs to see, it's _you_."  It took Zoey a few seconds to understand this, but when she did, she nodded.

            "Okay...let's go!  Hang on guys,  we're coming!"  Zoey called out as the three teens dashed toward the chambers where, according to Vinairamon, Serenamon had Kouji and Takuya trapped.  

~***~  

            Kouji shuddered at Zoey's touch and backed away, shaking his head...this was _wrong.  All wrong, and she knew it as well as he did.  _

            "I can't...I _won't_..."  Kouji whispered, shaking his head and wishing that he was anywhere else but here.  As if on cue, Zoey's face contorted into a look of fierce anger and she snapped her fingers.  Kouji winced as he heard Takuya cry out in pain.  When he looked at the brunette after, he saw that Takuya's other wrist had started to bleed.  He gritted his teeth in frustration...he was running out of time...time to think of a plan to get out of here...

            "Kouji, Kouji...what about Takuya...?"  Zoey whispered, coming ever so closer to him, causing him to back up until he tripped and landed on the bed...of all places...the bed.  The one place that Kouji least wanted to be with Zoey.

            "Zoey...NO!"  Again Zoey snapped her fingers, and again Kouji heard Takuya cry out in pain...but he couldn't look up to see what had happened because Zoey was moving toward him as he was still trying to move away.  

            "You can't stop me...I won't be stopped..."  She had her hand on his chest, it felt cold...he flinched from her touch, looking away...wanting to fight...he reached down for his detector, and nearly had it but she knocked it out of his hand before he could use it, it flew across the room completely out of reach.  

            "Damn it!"  Kouji growled, grabbing hold of Zoey's wrists, forcing her hand out of his shirt as he tried to push her off...he hadn't thought of her to be a strong person...but she was strong...and he didn't want to hurt her but he was afraid that he might not have a choice...

            "I told you Kouji, I won't be stopped..."  Zoey murmured again, closing in on him when suddenly the door to the chamber burst open.  

            "Don't be so sure about that!"  Kouji's eyes opened wide at the familiar voice as he took the moment of surprise to toss Zoey off of him...and when he looked up at who had spoken, he froze...

            "_Zoey_?!?"  He gasped, looking at her as she nodded and came over to help him stand up.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kumamon releasing Takuya from the vines...JP was nowhere in sight.  At the moment though, Kouji could care less about JP as he pushed Zoey away and dashed over to where Takuya had fallen to the floor, out of the hold of the vines.  He was gasping for breath, but smiled when he saw Kouji kneel down next to him.

            "You alright?"  He asked softly, and Takuya nodded, massaging his chest and left wrist.  

            "Yeah...I'm okay...you?"  Kouji nodded and smiled.

            "Close call, but yeah, I'm okay."  Takuya was looking around, and as he did so he smiled a thanks at Kumamon, who gave him a thumbs up in return as Takuya shakily reached for his detector.  

            "Where's JP?"  He murmured, and Kouji shook his head.

            "I don't know...Kumamon, where's JP?"  He asked the bear-like Digimon, who shook his head.

            "I don't know, I really don't...but I do have your detector...here!"  Kouji flashed Kumamon a small smile as he tossed him his detector and he smoothly caught it with no problem.  

            "Thanks, let's-"  But before he could say anything, he heard the sound of someone screaming in anger.  When he looked away from Takuya and Kumamon, he saw that the two Zoey's were facing one another-and that one of the Zoey's form was slowly changing.  Kouji gasped and looked from one Zoey to the other as he watched the change take place.  So it _hadn't_ been Zoey?  This was all too confusing...

            As if sensing his confusion, Takuya placed a hand on Kouji's shoulder.

            "Vinairamon told us what was going on...the fake Zoey-the one who was with you all the time-is really nothing but a shape shifting Digimon known as Serenamon."  Kouji nodded, though he knew that it would take him awhile to trust the _real Zoey.  _

            "You...you...BITCH!"  Serenamon cried as she shape shifted into the form of a wolf.  

            "YOU..."  Zoey just shook her head as she grabbed her detector from her pocket.

            "I don't care what you call me, you're finished!  Execute!  Spirit Evolution!"  As Zoey transformed, Kouji looked at Takuya, who suddenly looked tired as he clutched his detector in his right hand.  He saw the brunette sway a little and sighed as he caught him before he fell.  

            "I'm getting you out of here!"  He whispered, and Takuya didn't argue, only nod.  

            "Execute! Spirit Evolution!"  Just as Zoey turned into Kazemon, Kouji turned into Lobomon.  He looked her way and nodded.

            "This is your fight Zoey...I'm getting out of here with Takuya...we'll...we'll meet up with you."  He said, and she nodded.  

            "Alright...be careful!  And when you find JP tell him to get his butt in here!"  Lobomon nodded as he headed out, picking Takuya up as gently as he could and held him close to him as he left the Temple.  He was out in the rain, not quite knowing where to go next when he saw JP coming toward him looking...lost.  

            "JP?  You alright?"  JP looked surprised that Lobomon was there...but glad that Kouji was alright.  Takuya was starting to fall asleep in his arms, and was snuggling into him, causing Lobomon to look down at the brunette and smile.  He remembered the message that Zoey had told him to give JP.

            "Zoey wants you in the Temple...Takuya and I...we're...we're going to take off on our own for a little while...we'll...we'll catch up with you."  JP looked a little crestfallen that Kouji was deciding to leave the group, but nodded.

            "Okay...see you...soon, right?"  Kouji nodded as he took off, still holding Takuya in his arms.  

            JP looked over at the Temple and sighed shaking his head.  He was no good here...Zoey had probably turned into Kazemon and Tommy had the ice spirit and was now Kumamon...what help could he give?  All he could do was just cheer his comrades on.  He sighed...and was about to turn around and leave to contimplate why he had yet to get his own spirit when suddenly Kazemon came flying out, knocking into him and sending them both flying through the air, Kumamon's still form flying out after Kazemon, landing close by...JP watched with horror filled eyes as Kumamon turned back into Tommy, who lay there unmoving.  

            "Where...where did Lobomon go?"  Kazemon muttered, holding her head.  She had a pounding headache.  JP shook his head. 

            "They left...after what happened I think the two of them need some time alone."  As he told her this, Zoey growled.  

            "I would've loved the help...this is one tough bitch!" JP looked up in shock as Zoey cursed out loud, but before they could say anymore, Serenamon came out in what appeared to be her human form.  She had black hair that reached her waist and dark green eyes.  She wore a lot of gold jewelry and a dark green dress that had only one small strap across her right shoulder, leaving her left shoulder bare.  In her left hand, was a staff with a glowing emerald at the top.  

            "You have yet to see _tough_."  Serenamon sneered as she held her staff out toward Kazemon, who gasped as she saw the emerald grow dark with power.  

            "I'll show you _tough_!"  Before she could aim the gathering power at Zoey, Vinairamon-looking rather beaten-dashed out and pushed her to the ground, making her drop her staff.  The emerald broke, and Serenamon screamed...something floated out of the broken pieces of emerald, and floated in front of JP as his detector went off.  

            "JP...I...I think that's your human spirit!"  Kazemon called out, and JP shook his head looking like it was a dream that was going to burst any minute and not come true.  Serenamon gave a yell of protest as she struggled with Kazemon.

            "NO!  That's my power!  The power that _I need!"  JP frowned._

            "Is that why I'm always hearing thunder?"  He mumbled as he took a step toward his human spirit and gave a little smile.  Was it just his imagination or did it seem to be calling to him?  Holding out his detector, he claimed the last human spirit.  

            "SPIRIT!"  As the spirit emerged with his detector, JP felt himself transform.  

            "EXECUTE!  SPIRIT EVOLUTION!"  Within seconds he was standing in front of Kazemon and Serenamon, no longer as JP but as the Thunder Spirit Bettlemon.  He felt…good…he felt…_powerful.  He rammed his fists together, feeling the power as he turned to face Serenamon, who had managed to get the best of Kazemon and sent her flying to where Tommy was now regaining consciousness.  She growled in JP's direction, looking furious.  And she had many reasons to be furious.  _

            "You are such a dead human!"  She growled and Beetlemon only shook his head and laughed as he held out his arms.

            "What human?  I see no human!  There's only a Digimon now in front of you!  And if I do recall you said that your staff-the emerald to be exact-held all your power!"  As Beetlemon taunted her, Kazemon stood wearily and looked at Vinairamon who nodded at her.  

            "It is time."  He whispered, as he felt himself changed…his form of Vinairamon was no more as he became what he used to once be.  Now that the spell was broken, he was in his human spirit form…once he had finished shape shifting, the Digi Destined left in the Temple gasped…he looked a lot like Kouji!  Kazemon put a hand over her mouth.  

            No _wonder why Serenamon was after Kouji!  Her lover-Vinairamon-looks exactly like him!  She thought as she stumbled toward JP who was eyeing Vinairamon with a look of shock.  _

            "Wow…I swear I saw Kouji leave, but…"  Vinairamon chuckled a little and tossed back a strand of jet black hair.  It was a lot longer than Kouji's that was basically the only difference.  

            "I know.  I was wondering if the spell would be broken in front of you so you could understand why Serenamon wanted Kouji more than Takuya.  Now with the spell broken I am free to shape shift whatever I want to."  As he spoke, the Temple rumbled and Serenamon screamed in frustration and pointed a finger of accusation at Vinairamon. 

            "YOU!  You PROMISED me!  You gave me your WORD that you wouldn't ruin my plan!  AND YOU DID!"  She sobbed as Vinairamon went over to her and brushed some strands of hair from her face.

            "You and I have a lot to talk about Serenamon.  A _lot_ to talk about."  Serenamon turned on him though and shook her head angrily.

            "You and I have _nothing_ to talk about!"  She snarled, as she suddenly launched herself at Beetlemon, who was a little unprepared for the attack.  

            "JP, look out!"  Tommy called, warning him in just enough time so that he was able to turn and flip Serenamon over, nearly shooting her with a lightning bolt in the process.  It scattered off in another direction however, hitting a vine wall and crumbling it down to pieces.  Kazemon stared at it for a moment, before a thought came to mind.  

            Now that Serenamon no longer has the power she once had…and she _created_ all of this _with the power… She gasped.  _

            "JP!  The place is going to come down!  It's not going to hold itself up any longer without the magic Serenamon had!"  

            "Without my spirit you mean…let's get out of here then!"  Beetlemon hollered as Kazemon turned tail and picked up Tommy along the way, for she could run faster than he could at the moment.  As Beetlemon turned to follow them, he beckoned Vinairamon to follow as well, but he shook his head as he moved down to where Serenamon lay in semi-consciousness.

            "It is not my destiny to come with you but to stay here and repair things…once I get the situation with my love cleared up, I'm sure our clan will return and this part of the Digital World will thrive once again.  I thank you."  JP shook his head though as he stood at the doorway of the chamber room.

            "No, it's _me_ who should be thanking _you.  I got my spirit…"  Vinairamon smiled and raised a hand in farewell._

            "I hope that Zoey gets back on track with Takuya and Kouji…they are teammates you don't want to loose."  JP nodded at this.

            "I'll remember that."  He promised, and dashed out just as Kazemon called his name from the outside and the place started to tumble to the ground.  He barely got out in the nick of time.  Glancing back at the fallen Temple, he sighed.  

            "Come on…I don't think that there is much more we can do here…and now that you can fly JP, I think flying is the best way to get out of here."  JP nodded as they took off, wondering if Kouji and Takuya were alright, and if they'd join them anytime soon…

~***~

            Kouji had long since left what he was now calling the Valley of the Vines, and had gently laid Takuya down in a hidden spot within the forest that they'd been traveling through.  He sighed…Takuya had fallen asleep, and he was wide awake.  Taking his bandanna of the wrist that he'd wrapped it around, he used it to clean up the most of the cuts he'd received from the vines that Serenamon had used on him and grimaced as he looked at his bandanna, thinking that it was a lost cause as he put it in his pocket.  Maybe he'd find a stream or something tomorrow where he could wash it out.  He could do without it for awhile…but it was rather annoying having his hair falling into his face every time a breeze went by.  

            Deciding that he too would probably need some sleep, he settled down next to Takuya, who sighed and cuddled up next to him.  Kouij's eyes were halfway closed when he heard Takuya softly speak.  

            "So…what are we going to do now?"  He mumbled, and Kouji shrugged.  

            "I don't know…I…I don't know if I can trust the group at this moment…"  Takuya nodded.  

            "I know…I'm the same way.  After…what happened with Zoey…I mean, I know it wasn't Zoey, but…"  Kouji bit his lower lip as he hugged Takuya closer to him and kissed him softly. 

            "Let's worry about that in the morning.  I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted…"  He murmured as he started to nibble on Takuya's ear, and the brunette grinned as he rolled over so that he was now facing Kouji.

            "Oh yeah, you're _so_ tired…" Takuya teased and Kouji pulled off his red shirt as Takuya was pulling off his windbreaker.  

            "I am…totally wiped out…"  

            "You know, I suddenly am too…very tired…"  And with that, Kouji rolled over letting Takuya be on top as they shared one kiss after another…their problems washing away with every one.  

TBC…

AN:   Not too bad of an ending, no?  Not a major cliffhanger… PHEW…my brain is feeling tired…-_- really, it is…got two chapters done…*FINALLY*!  I'm so sorry about the long wait for this, and these two chapters are out together as an apology…also, if you like what you see here I've got a new fic up and going as well (the first chapter is out now) called Reign of Darkness…it's a crossover between the different seasons and it DOES have Takouji in it…well it will eventually…I don't think I can't write something that DOESN'T have Takouji in it!  So if you want to go and check that out as well, please do so!  ^-^  Otherwise, sit tight because I AM working on the next chapter of Different Journeys, hopefully I'll update this within the next couple of weeks or so…till' later…(OH, and if anyone saw any mistakes in this chapter or the last one once so ever, PLEASE let me know?  I double checked it for spelling and other errors, but you know how that goes sometimes…^_~)  


	11. Enter Grumblemon

Disclaimer: This story being a Takouji + rewritten version of 04=no owning Digimon (My muses would like to add that they just like to borrow the characters and use them for such plots like this, but promise to return them back to their original selves as soon as this is over.well.um.except for maybe the Takouji part.=^-^= )  
  
Author's Notes: Ack! Don't kill me.please? ::watches as authoress cowers behind computer screen:: I'm sorry it took me this long.my life has been.um.busy? With school and work.I know that's not a decent enough excuse, but here's the next chapter for you guys! I hope it doesn't suck too badly.::whimpers.please don't let it suck to badly.:: Just to warn you guys I didn't really spell check or grammar proof this thing cause I wanted to get it up for you all to read and enjoy, so if there are any major problems, lemme know through a review, k? Oh, and one last thing, I am going to start using the Japanese names instead of the American dubbed names, just cause' I like the Japanese names better.^-~ hope you guys don't mind the sudden switch.Takuya's and Kouji's names are still the same.Zoe=Izumi, JP=Junpei, and Tommy=Tomoki. (Hope that helps any confusion! I've just been working on another story, Eternity (Yes, Takouji of course!) and I have been using their Japanese names for THAT one, SO.there's the explanation for that!) Anywho, I'm off to go and write another chapter.  
  
Warning: sighs...even though this is like, the eleventh chapter I still feel like I should put this here...: if you don't like male/male parings (slash/yaoi, whatever you wanna call it...=P) then leave now or forever hold your peace...you HAVE been for warned (and in all honesty if you've gotten this far and haven't realized that it contains Takuya and Kouji as a couple then...::author widens eyes:: I'm shocked! Really! =P) otherwise, if you like the wonderfulness of Takouji then do please feel free to move forward...^_~  
  
Story Rating: PG  
  
Chapter Summary: Takuya and Kouji are away from the others, and Izumi feels like she needs to somehow convince the two boys how sorry she is...but how can she do that when they're no longer traveling with them? Junpei and Tomoki realize how much nicer she's being, and want to help her...but when they find Takuya injured in the woods, and Kouji nowhere in sight, they know that something must be wrong...and have their first encounter with Grumblemon...  
  
Different Journeys  
  
Author: Angel Spirit  
  
Chapter 12: Enter Grumblemon  
  
Takuya had no idea how long he and Kouji had been walking...at first they'd been running, but then it'd slow down to a jog, and finally a walk...  
  
It was now slightly after dark, the three moons of the Digital World were slowly rising, illuminating their figures as they continued their hike in the mountains they'd found themselves in before the sun had set. Takuya hadn't known how tired he was until he'd stopped to catch a breath, his legs burning as they hadn't stopped for a break since leaving the others. He had to catch his breath, and he felt a stitch coming on at his side. He wanted to call out to Kouji to get the raven haired teenager to stop, but he didn't think he had the voice.  
  
It was as though Kouji had sensed that he was no longer following him, and turned around, his eyes narrowed at first and then the expression softened as he realized that Takuya was tired and came back toward him, leaning against the same rock he was.  
  
"Alright?" Kouji whispered, and Takuya shook his head...his side and chest hurt and the ache in his legs were driving him crazy...  
  
"No...I...think I need to stop." Kouji just nodded and motioned for him to stay there as he disappeared for a few minutes and came back a second later, a grin on his face.  
  
"There's a overhang where we can spend the night and maybe try and build a fire. Here, let me help you...it's just around the corner." Takuya nodded as he leaned against Kouji for support and a few minutes later he was resting against the cool rock, enjoying the fact that he was finally sitting down.  
  
"I'm gonna go and see if I can get us some firewood or something..." Takuya just nodded wearily as Kouji departed, and the brunette felt his eyes close...  
  
When he woke up again, he felt the warmth of the fire before him, and found Kouji cuddled up close next to him, fast asleep. Smiling as Takuya positioned it so that they were both more comfortable, he just sighed and watched the flames rise up into the night sky. He wondered how long he had been asleep, and felt bad for making Kouji do all the work, and promised himself that tomorrow night he'd build the fire. It didn't look as though Kouji had gone for food, and even though Takuya was a little hungry, he just didn't think that he could eat anything. His mind kept on wandering to the events of what had happened the past couple of days, and he found himself trying to shut it out.  
  
In his heart he knew that it was true...it hadn't been Izumi who had tried to take Kouji away from him but an evil Digimon Shape Shifter...the whole thing was too confusing for his brain to handle at the moment, so instead he settled his eyes on Kouji, allowing them to drink in his koi's features...from his pale skin, to his long jet black hair, which at the moment was falling out of it's ponytail. Takuya grinned as Kouji shifted a little in his sleep, and making himself comfortable once more, found himself slowly falling back asleep...  
  
Kouji had woken up almost an hour after Takuya had fallen back asleep, sensing something. He didn't know what it was, but he knew he had heard something, and he didn't think that it was something friendly...in fact, far from it. He glared into the darkness but didn't see anything. If anything did try to get at him or Takuya, Kouji would make sure that it wouldn't get very far. After what had just happened, all Kouji wanted was some peace and quiet with Takuya. Like now...he loved how close he was to the brunette, so close his warmth vibrated off of him, leaving Kouji feeling quite warm and content...but he knew the fire helped a little bit with that part...but there was something about Takuya, that whenever Kouji was close to him like this, he knew that he could never be cold.  
  
A gentle breeze swept by the two, and once again Kouji heard the noise somewhere out in the darkness. Takuya must've heard it too, for he slowly opened his brown eyes, and stared out into the mountains as Kouji was doing. Kouji had felt Takuya's body tense, and so he stood and brushed himself off as he offered his koi a hand that he greatly accepted.  
  
"Something is out there." Takuya said, admitting exactly what Kouji was thinking and he nodded.  
  
"Yeah...something's out there...let's put out this fire...we might be cold if we do, but the smoke from the flames will let anyone out their know where we are..." Takuya nodded as he helped Kouji put out the fire, and soon the two were plunged into darkness...suddenly it seemed as though there were no stars and no moon...it was all kind of eerie actually. Takuya felt his way to where Kouji was standing still, glaring out into the darkness as he tried to sense what could be out there...and placed a hand on his shoulder causing the other teen to jump a little. Kouji's breathing quickened as he cursed a little and then shook his head at Takuya, grinning.  
  
"Damn...you scared me, creeping up on me like that!" Takuya found himself grinning back, his eyes adjusting to the darkness.  
  
"I know...I'm getting better at it too." Kouji just shook his head a smug look in his eyes.  
  
"Yeah, but I'll always be the best at it...no matter how good you get." Takuya pouted and Kouji laughed a little as he pulled the brunette into an embrace.  
  
"You know, there is one good thing about the darkness." Kouji teased, and Takuya looked at him with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"And what would that be?" Takuya asked knowing somehow, what Kouji's reply would be as the dark haired boy smiled.  
  
"No one can see us doing this." And he pulled Takuya into a kiss that warmed him from the inside out...  
  
Unfortunately it didn't last very long, as both boys heard the sound of laughter from above them, and caused Kouji to break it off as soon as he'd started it. Takuya groaned softly, and bit his lower lip, feeling frustrated.  
  
"Someone's up there..." Kouji snarled, one of his hands balling into a tight fist, the other on Takuya's arm.  
  
"It feels like we're being hunted down or something..." Takuya whispered, and then the owner of the laughter, laughed again...but this time it just wasn't laughter that they heard.  
  
"Oh, me wouldn't hunt you down if me didn't want something from you..." Both boys drew in breaths and held it, as though it would make them disappear...but when something jumped down from the ledge and let out a ferocious, angry howl, their breath was taken away and both boys jumped back, more in surprise then in fear.  
  
They saw the outline of the Digimon in front of them as it advanced on them, they saw the wicked smile on it's face as it pounded it's club against one hand, it's eyes narrowed at the two boys with disliking.  
  
"Me has heard rumors that you humans stole spirits...that no good! Me come to take spirits back!" Kouji growled softly and stepped in front of Takuya, glaring daggers at the Digimon who stood so menacingly in front of them.  
  
"We didn't steal any spirits! We earned them! They came to us!" Takuya nodded in agreement with what Kouji had just shouted, but the Digimon just chuckled low and shook his head.  
  
"Grumblemon think that human boy is lying...does human boy want to know what Grumblemon do to liars?" Takuya felt his own eyes narrow in disliking...Grumblemon...if that was what this Digimon's name was...was seriously starting to annoy him.  
  
"You know pal, you've got a bad attitude...and not only that, but you interrupted us from some nice, quiet time we were having together...and I think you need to pay for that..." Kouji glanced at Takuya, as Takuya nodded...he already had his Detector out, and had flipped it around and caught it as it came down right side up in his hand.  
  
"Let's get rid of this nuisance..." Kouji growled, grabbing his own Detector.  
  
"Me not going to allow you use of spirits...me going to TAKE spirits from you!" Just as the two boys were starting to Digivolve, Grumblemon attacked Takuya, hitting him hard and sending him flying against a rock wall...he hit it hard and lost his breath as his Digivolving process ceased and he slid to the ground, holding his chest...that had seriously hurt...  
  
But while Grumblemon had attacked Takuya, Kouji had managed to Digivolve into Lobomon, and now Grumblemon was faced with quite an angry looking wolf.  
  
"You touch him again and I swear..." Grumblemon just locked eyes with Lobomon and snarled at him.  
  
"You swear what? Swear that you kill Grumblemon? Cause Grumblemon not easily defeated! Especially by stupid humans!" Lobomon growled low and started attacking first, as Grumblemon blocked his blows.  
  
Takuya had managed to stand back up, and though he was still feeling breathless, knew that Kouji was giving him time to Digivolve again...which, he did so and in record time, was helping Kouji battle against Grumblemon. Even though it was two against one, even Takuya had to admit that Grumblemon was probably one of the strongest Digimon he and Kouji had run into since their arrival in the Digital World.  
  
"Me not like you using spirit against me..." Grumblemon declared as he knocked Lobomon out of the way, who grunted in protest as he was slammed up against the wall.  
  
"Lobomon!"  
  
"Agunimon, look out!" Takuya had seen it coming too late, and even as he got his attack ready, Grumblemon was down upon him, and Takuya found himself knocked out of the way again, but this time Grumblemon came after him. He was actually loosing...he felt himself getting tired, no matter how hard he tried to fight off Grumblemon's attacks, they kept on coming.  
  
It was the last attack that finally did it for Takuya, as it sent him flying up so that he landed hard against a tree, and, feeling himself loosing consciousness, he slowly fell to the ground.  
  
He didn't see Lobomon coming to attack Grumblemon from behind to keep him away from him as he fell to the ground, or did he see his data actually appear as he groaned in pain. But Grumblemon saw it, and despite the fact that Lobomon was putting up a good fight, turned his attention back to Takuya, who was slowly turning back into his human form.  
  
"Me take spirit from flame boy now..." Lobomon however, growled in protest and laughed himself at Grumblemon again as Takuya's spirit showed briefly...but not long enough for Grumblemon to get it, who was busy fending Kouji off. As Takuya's spirit and data disappeared, leaving behind a weakened and wounded Takuya, Grumblemon glared at Lobomon, who glared back triumphantly.  
  
"You loose..." Enraged at what had just happened, Grumblemon started attacking Lobomon non stop, who knew that he head to take the fight away from his injured koi...he didn't want Takuya to get even more injured then what he already was.  
  
"You want me ugly? Then come and get me..." Lobomon found himself running into the darkness of the mountains, Grumblemon, after letting out an angry growl, dashed after him...  
  
~***~  
  
"It's too quiet Izumi..." Izumi didn't pay any attention to Junpei once so ever, so was caught up in her own thoughts...her own thoughts of misery that is. She couldn't stand it that Takuya and Kouji had just taken off like that...without knowing how sorry she was...but why should she be the one sorry? She didn't do anything? But she had...it hadn't been her, but it had been her image. And no matter how many times she could and would say sorry to the other two teenagers, she was never sure if they'd forgive her or not. Maybe never.  
  
She felt like crying...but had long since run out of tears. And besides, lately she would cry at night when Junpei and Tomoki were sleeping, so they wouldn't hear her and she wouldn't have to explain to them if they asked questions as to 'why' she was crying. They couldn't do anything about it...no matter what Junpei would say to comfort her.  
  
"Izumi...I wanna rest..." Izumi barely glanced over her shoulder at Tomoki, and sighed. It was shortly after sunset, and she was tired as well...they might as well rest.  
  
"Okay...okay...let's call it a night guys." The two boys sighed in relief and sunk down to the ground to rest their weary feet. Izumi however, didn't quite feel like stopping yet...something inside her told her that it was wrong to stop...that there was something up ahead that they had to reach before stopping.  
  
"It's about time we get to rest...I think that Neemon is about to fall sleep on me..." Bokomon complained from where the two had stopped a few feet away from the group. They'd been trying to keep the pace that Izumi had set, but had kept on falling behind.  
  
"I-I'm going to go and get some firewood and see if maybe I can't find any food or anything..." The blonde muttered and walked off deeper into the mountains before the two boys could say anything. But as soon as she had disappeared, Tomoki and Junpei exchanged worried looks as the two Digimon traveling with them slid to the ground, feeling rather exhausted.  
  
"She's going to be alright, right Junpei?" Junpei looked to where he had last seen Izumi standing and bit gently down on his lower lip. He honestly didn't know the answer to Tomoki's question. So in response, he shrugged, looking rather helpless about the situation at hand. Izumi had been acting like this since Takuya and Kouji had decided to go off on their own for awhile again. He supposed it might have been because of what had happened with the Shape Shifting Digimon in the vine village, but a part of him thought that maybe it was because they did not quite want to be with people yet...that they wanted to have some time with each other, to be together before they joined them. To him, that was more of a likely explanation then the one that Izumi was toying around with...that the boys didn't travel with them, and had run off because she was to blame. But it hadn't been her...and sooner or later, Junpei knew that she had to understand that.  
  
"I'm cold..." Tomoki stammered and stood up shaking. Suddenly, Junpei felt cold as well and shivered a bit as he stood up with the other and looked at him, a strange look in his eyes...for he felt...strange. Like something was going on that shouldn't be going on.  
  
"I'm going after Izumi." Junpei declared, and took off in the direction that the blonde girl had gone off in, and Tomoki, after looking around and realizing that he didn't want to be alone, headed after him, still shivering.  
  
Bokomon had looked up and groaned...he hadn't felt like walking much more, but he didn't want to be left behind either. He poked Neemon awake, who grunted and sat up, rubbing his eyes and looking rather cranky.  
  
"What? Can't you see I was sleeping?" Bokomon nodded his head in the direction of where Junpei and Tomoki had taken off after Izumi.  
  
"Yes well, we're going to be left behind." It took Neemon a few minutes before he actually realized what it was that Bokomon had said, and his eyes widened wide.  
  
"Holy smoke, we're being left behind!" Bokomon sighed as he took off after Neemon as they too ran off in the direction Izumi had gone.  
  
~***~  
  
They'd only been jogging for awhile when they heard a howl...and it sounded like an angry howl. The two boys looked at each other, eyes wide as they wondered what on earth could possibly make such a noise like that...and then, remembering that Izumi was out there somewhere, Junpei started to move again, picking up Tomoki and carrying him on his back in a piggy back ride when the youth complained that he was too tired to run anymore.  
  
It was only when they had heard the howl the fourth time when they'd finally found Izumi. She was standing on the trail, looking quite afraid as the look in her eyes told Junpei that she was also trying to figure out what was making those noises. She jumped when Junpei came up and placed a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to him, her blue eyes wide.  
  
"Junpei...did...did you and Tomoki hear it too? That horrible sound..." She shuddered, and Junpei nodded as he kept his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it lightly to comfort her. Tomoki stood near them, having gotten off of Junpei's back as soon as they'd seen the girl standing there.  
  
"Well, I know I heard it..." Bokomon breathed out, and Neemon nodded, afraid as the sound came again and he jumped onto Bokomon, who ended up falling to the ground at his weight.  
  
"Clumsy oaf, get off me!" Bokomon scowled, and pushed a still scared Neemon off of him.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Tomoki muttered, feeling a little afraid himself as the howl sounded again, but this time it sounded like it was in pain more then it was angry...and it was more like a growling noise now...but it was moving further away.  
  
As if answering Tomoki's question without words, Izumi suddenly found her courage and straightened her shoulders, standing tall and batting away Junpei's hand and started toward where they'd first heard the sound. All Junpei could do, was look at her in shock.  
  
"Izumi! Izumi, you're CRAZY!" Izumi just held her head high as Junpei ran the small distance to catch up with her, and Tomoki did the same.  
  
"Izumi, we don't know what that thing is..." But when she turned to face him Junpei saw a fire in her eyes that told him she wasn't going to change her mind about finding whatever it was that had made that noise.  
  
"Izumi..." Junpei whimpered, but started to jog when Izumi did. After what seemed like an eternity of jogging, they reached a wider part of the trail they were on, that led to a rock structure that looked like someone had been using it for a shelter...there was firewood that was still warm. Izumi stood up after looking at it, and looked around, lowering her eyes.  
  
"I think they were here..." Junpei and Tomoki looked at her like she was crazy.  
  
"Think that...that who were here Izumi?" Bokomon asked looking around, and Izumi just shook her head lightly.  
  
"Kouji and Takuya..." Junpei glanced around and nodded. He knew why Izumi was thinking that...he doubted that there were too many Digimon out there who knew how to make fires like the way the logs were arranged in the dirt...and there was dirt over the wood. That made it seem as though someone had put it out quite suddenly.  
  
Tomoki had started to wander around the area, a strange feeling of foreboding coming over him. He had taken his hat off because it had gotten windy and he was afraid that it would blow away, so he was now twisting it in his hands when he found Takuya lying face down in the dirt, looking half dead. Tomoki stifled a scream and instead raced back to get Junpei and Izumi, to find Junpei trying to comfort a distraught Izumi.  
  
"I know they were here Junpei! And they weren't here to long ago, and...!" Tomoki interrupted them before she could finish what she was saying.  
  
"TAKUYA!" He yelled, and the two teens in front of him stood there staring at him, not registering what he had said in the least bit.  
  
"Yes, we are talking about Takuya..." Bokomon said, declaring it as though Tomoki knew that already, but Tomoki shook his head.  
  
"No! TAKUYA! He's hurt!" Izumi gasped, one of her delicate hands reaching up to her mouth a shocked expression on her face, a look of fear in her eyes.  
  
"Where?!? Tomoki, where?!?" Tomoki said nothing, but instead turned around and raced back to where he had found the other injured Digi Destined. As soon as Junpei and Izumi had reached the part of the trail where he was lying, Izumi let out a gasp and reached the brunette first, kneeling down next to him and quickly checked his pulse.  
  
"He's...still breathing but...oh Junpei, what happened!?!" Junpei just shook his head, wondering the same thing.  
  
"Yeah, what happened to Kouji too...the first feeling I had when I met these two was that they were inseparable..." Tomoki nodded, agreeing with Junpei.  
  
"Guys...Lobomon...is a wolf-type Digimon...right?" Izumi asked, a hint of fear in her voice as both boys nodded at her. She suddenly looked kind of afraid.  
  
"I...I think that was Lobomon we were hearing...something happened here...something terrible..." Junpei's eyes widened as he heard and understood what Izumi was saying. It was as soon as she had finished her sentence when they heard a light groan of pain and the trio glanced down to see Takuya slowly opening his eyes.  
  
"K-Kouji?" He gasped, but Izumi just shook her head and brushed some of his fallen brown hair out of his eyes.  
  
"No Takuya...Kouji's not here...I'm sorry..." Takuya started for a moment, but Junpei lightly pushed him back down.  
  
"Relax Takuya-kun you're hurt." Takuya didn't seem to notice who was with him at the moment, or even recognize them...Tomoki hung back, looking a little scared.  
  
"We should get him away from here..." Izumi muttered, and Junpei nodded as he gently lifted Takuya, who had fallen back into unconsciousness.  
  
"I do say that we should use the sheltered area that he and Kouji must've used earlier....before whatever happened, happened." Bokomon suggested, as he glanced up at the sky and the others nodded as they followed his gaze. It looked like it was going to rain again.  
  
"What did happen?" Neemon asked curiously and Bokomon just reached out and smacked the other Digimon alongside the head, causing everyone else to sweat drop for a minute.  
  
"You nimrod, we don't know what happened! Takuya will have to tell us later, when he wakens."  
  
"Oh..." Neemon said, before casting a look at Takuya.  
  
"He'll wake up soon?" Bokomon sighed at Neemon's question, as Junpei carried the unconscious teen to where the shelter was, the other's following as Izumi worked on getting the fire started again.  
  
"I hope so Neemon...I hope so."  
  
Quick AN: ::Cowers again:: I'm sorry, I'm sorry.::holds hands in front of her in self defense:: I *know* this was *really* short.much shorter then usual. I PROMISE I'm working on the next chapter! Really, I am! This just seemed like a good place to leave off.And don't tell me that the first battle with Grumblemon sucked.you guys don't have to tell me something I don't already know.I know it did.blame the muses.::cowers from evil glares of muses::.I'll do better next time.::whimpers and scurries off to write a better chapter:: 


	12. Together Again

Disclaimer: Since this is a Takouji fanfic, then obviously I don't own Digimon...right? Right.  
  
Author's Notes: Well...after that first terrible chapter of the 12 chapters that I have so far...::sees authoress blush:: Hey, this authoress is allowed to have one horrible chapter, isn't she? I promise it won't happen again...scout's honor! (Wait a minute...I'm not a scout...::shrugs:: oh well...^-~) Mmmmm...yummy...Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks...good times! ::takes sip of coffee:: Okay, let's get on with this fic, shall we? Oh, and thanks to those who've been faithful reviewers! ::Sighs mournfully:: I have to get a new fishy from the pet store.::sniff, sniff:: I didn't check much of my grammar or my spelling this time around either but I'm a thinking that it's okay.so anyone who notices anything wrong, lemme know okay? ^-~ But enough of that! This chapter is to so *totally* make up for the last chapter, so go, read it and enjoy! (Oh, and for those of you who are reading my other Takouji fic, Eternity and haven't seen chapter III yet, it's a new chapter.so you can go and check this one out when you are finished here if ya want to!)  
  
Story Rating: PG13  
  
Warning: Takuya+Kouji=Takoujiness! Any questions.? =P  
  
Yaoi pairing: Takouji! (Takuya/Kouji) Non-Yaoi pairing: Junpei/Izumi frienshipness...maybe a little more, who knows...I'm debating about making it a Koichi/Izumi when Koichi comes into play...(heh, whoops...I promised people I'd start spelling his name Kouichi for this fic...blah...but he hasn't come in yet! So I get off the hook...right? ^-^)  
  
Different Journeys  
  
Author: Angel Spirit  
  
Chapter 13: Together Again  
  
Kouji was feeling tired...mentally and physically. He didn't know how much longer he could pull it off...but for now it seemed as though he had managed to loose Grumblemon completely.  
  
Taking a few deep breaths, Kouji allowed himself to dedigivolve, stumbling a little as he did so...he had almost outdone himself there. But he had had to do it...he had to get Grumblemon away from Takuya. And now it looked as though he had succeeded...but at what cost?  
  
He found himself glancing around, and sighed.  
  
At what cost indeed. Now he was lost...he was sure he wouldn't be able to find his way back to where he had left Takuya...  
  
His eyes opened wide as he realized that he had left Takuya hurt...injured...unconscious! The thought tore threw him, and Kouji shook his head...no, Takuya was alright...Grumblemon hadn't hurt him that badly...right...right? Right...he just had to keep on thinking positive...oh, but the last time he had seen Takuya...he had been on the ground, limp and not moving, eyes closed...  
  
Kouji fought back a scream of frustration and anger...though he was not angry at Takuya. No, he was angry at Grumblemon...the stupid evil Digimon who had started all this! Kouji allowed one of his hands to ball into a tight fist, and was surprised to see his hand shaking a little...but only out of anger.  
  
"Grumblemon...you'd better watch your back...because next time we meet...I'm going to finish you and make you pay!" With that, Kouji turned around and slammed his fist into the nearest tree trunk, letting out all his anger...  
  
~***~  
  
"He's going to be alright...right Izumi?" Tomoki found himself asking as he brought a fresh canteen of water to the blond girl. They had set up camp again and gotten the fire started once more, as they had been using the area that Kouji and Takuya had used previously for a camping spot. Though the other two had argued with her for awhile whether or not it was safe, Izumi pointed out that it was doubtful that whatever had attacked the two boys would come back this way...it would have probably thought Takuya dead, and would still go after Kouji.  
  
Even though Junpei had thought that as a horrible way of looking at it, he and Tomoki had complied and gone to get some firewood...and water.  
  
Izumi had gotten Takuya as comfortable as she could, and then sat watch...and had still been sitting watch by the time the other two boys had gotten back and started the fire.  
  
"I'm not sure Tomoki...I'm not seeing anything to wrong with him, besides a few cuts and bruises here and there." She told him, having already bandaged up the small wound on Takuya's head, and was now pouring some of the water into a small cloth she had found in Tomoki's bag and was gently washing the other cuts on his arms.  
  
"Who do you think they ran into?" Junpei asked, causing Izumi to jump...she had almost forgotten that Junpei was there-he was actually being rather quiet...more so then usual. She shrugged...having not a clue. They had gotten there after Kouji and whatever it was he had been fighting had taken off. That was not good, as when Takuya would wake up, he'd be sure to have questions, and expecting answers.  
  
"Will Kouji come back?" Tomoki asked, and Izumi sighed. That was the one question that she knew Takuya was going to ask...but unfortunately she didn't have an answer, so she shook her head at this as well.  
  
"I don't know...I don't know, alright you guys?!? Will you stop asking me questions that I don't know the answer too?" She hadn't meant to snap at them but she was feeling...frustrated? Yes, that was it...frustrated because Takuya was hurt and she didn't know how badly- wouldn't know until he woke up, and she had no idea when that would be-and she didn't know where Kouji had gone off too, or if he was hurt as well...  
  
She bit her lower lip and sighed, shaking her head ruefully.  
  
She wanted to make up for what had happened back in the vine village so badly...even though she knew that it wasn't her fault...still, it had been someone who had taken an image of her, and had almost...almost...no! She couldn't think of that. At the moment all that mattered was making it up to the two boys, showing them that she wanted to be friends, that she didn't mind once so ever that they were together as couple...for she didn't. Not now, not anymore-now she knew that the two boys were meant for each other.  
  
The other two backed off for awhile, and it was silent around camp. The hours passed by, and soon she heard Junpei's snoring and Tomoki's light murmuring, and groaned. It figured that they'd fall asleep and leave her with watch...but that just meant that she could keep on keeping an eye on Takuya, who was still unconscious and had been for quite some time now.  
  
It was only when she had felt herself drooping off to sleep, when she heard someone groaning lightly. Startled, she opened her bright blue eyes and found a pair of brown ones staring up at her, filled with nothing but confusion.  
  
"K-Kouji?" Izumi shook her head.  
  
"No Takuya...Kouji's not...he's not here..." She managed, and bit her lower lip, cursing softly to herself. She hadn't wanted to tell Takuya that right away...but she should've expected that the brunette would ask for Kouji when he had woken.  
  
Takuya's eyes opened wide, as he struggled to sit up, only then to gasp in pain and lay back down rather quickly, holding his stomach as he grimaced in pain.  
  
"Kouji's...not here? Then where...? And what're you doing here...?" Izumi just shook her head and pressed a finger lightly to Takuya's lips to shush him.  
  
"Not now...I'll...try to explain all I can...but first, you have to tell me how you are feeling." As she spoke, Takuya grimaced again, and coughed.  
  
"I feel...like...shit." Izumi only nodded at this.  
  
"It's to be expected...you and Kouji must've had a pretty bad fight..." Takuya then sat up again, hissing in pain but not backing down again.  
  
"Kouji! He...led him away...where is he?!? Have you looked for him, is he hurt?" Izumi just shook her head, her blue eyes filling with worry. Oh she hadn't wanted to tell Takuya that Kouji hadn't come back yet...but now it looked as though she had had no choice.  
  
"Takuya...shhh...calm down, let me access the rest of your injuries and take care of you...from what it looks like, it looks like your ribs are bothering you...am I correct?" Takuya sighed and nodded slowly.  
  
"Y-yeah, you could say that...though I'm not sure if they're broken or cracked...it's hard to tell...and it's hard to breath..." Izumi nodded and instructed the brunette to lay back down, and although he did not seem to want to do so, he complied anyway, groaning as he did so.  
  
"I...want to just look...at your ribs..." Izumi was blushing as she said this, and Takuya just groaned.  
  
His mind whimpered, but he only nodded at Izumi, who after all, was only trying to help. She lifted his shirt up gently and gasped, shaking her head as she rolled it up a little.  
  
"Damn it...Takuya...your rib cage is all black and blue!" Takuya winced as she prodded a little, and slapped her hand away.  
  
"Probably when he nailed me with his bat...or whatever you call it..." Takuya gasped as she accidentally touched a sore spot, and then she sat back and sighed.  
  
"I don't know what we're going to do for this...we don't have any real medical supplies..." All the brunette did was whimper a little and nod...oh god it hurt...and where in the hell was Kouji? How badly he wanted the dark haired teen to be there instead of Izumi, comforting him...oh how badly he wanted it.  
  
Tomoki came up at one point, with a canteen of water and showed it to Takuya, who nodded, suddenly feeling very thirsty as the youth handed it to him and Izumi helped him sit up enough so he could drink.  
  
Takuya felt his eyes tear as she laid him gently back down, and coughed again, groaning afterward. He saw Izumi shoot him a look of deep concern, and he just shook his head at her...like she said, there wasn't much she could do, or any of them could do.  
  
"Like you said Izumi...there's nothing that can be done..." He murmured, and she nodded.  
  
"Yeah, I know but..." Takuya held up a hand, as he felt his eyes swiftly closing again...there wasn't much more he could do right now besides sleep...which was one of the best things for an injured person right? As long as they didn't have a concussion...and he didn't think he had that bad of a concussion...but even if he did have one, Izumi couldn't have kept him awake much longer...he felt his eyes close, and his breathing even out, though it still hurt to breath...and he dreamed...  
  
He saw him running frantically through the mountains, through the dark forests that were embedded within the rocky surfaces...he looked to be lost, his dark blue gray eyes filled with nothing but frustration and fear...  
  
His clothes were tattered, torn in some places, and there were cuts and bruises all over his face and arms...he looked warn out...  
  
As if to prove this thought, the dark haired teen stumbled and fell, landing on his knees and giving out a loud curse as he scraped the palms of his hands.  
  
"Me gonna get your spirit...NOW!" That voice...it was all too familiar...the dark haired teen's eyes opened wide with fear as he turned his head to see him coming straight for him...but somehow he was different...and in his eyes, there looked to be nothing but revenge...  
  
Takuya gasped as he sat up, nearly crying out in pain as he did so. How long had he been asleep?!? Kouji...Kouji was in trouble...he knew that Kouji was in trouble...  
  
He tried to move, tried to stand up but he only cried out in pain as he did so, and ended up giving up...something was wrong with his left shoulder...it felt...wrong. Why hadn't he felt it before? The adrenaline that had cursed through his body earlier was now easing away...and that had probably been why. His eyes grew teary as he sunk back down to the ground, holding his left arm to him steadily so that his shoulder wasn't harmed anymore, and took in deep breaths of air. God, he felt terrible...and there was only one person he wanted to see come through those trees...  
  
But it wasn't the person he wanted to see, instead that one person was Junpei, who came through carrying some firewood with him as he added it to the pile, not even realizing that Takuya was awake, until the brunette let out a groan. Junpei glanced behind him, and smiled-though he had a worried look in his eye as he came up to Takuya and knelt down next to him.  
  
"Hey...I'm sorry, I didn't know that you were awake..." He apologized, and all Takuya did was give a curt nod as he bit his lower lip...his shoulder was killing him...  
  
"You want some water or something?" Takuya nodded, not thinking that he'd be able to speak, but as Junpei turned his back, he allowed a whimper of pain to escape his lips, causing Junpei to turn around again and glance at him, frowning.  
  
"Takuya...what's wrong?" All Takuya did was shake his head. Junpei suddenly got really worried then as he had just taken a good look at his friend...who had just gone as white as a ghost, and seemed to be in pain. It took Junpei a few minutes longer to realize the way that Takuya was holding his left arm rather close to him.  
  
"Takuya...is your left arm bothering you?" Takuya shook his head.  
  
"No...shoulder...!" Takuya managed to gasp out, and something dawned on Junpei.  
  
"How does it feel Takuya? Tell me, please?" Takuya gasped...Junpei was almost as bad as Izumi at twenty questions!  
  
"It...it burns...like it's on fire...it feels...wrong...dislocated." The last part Takuya forced himself to whisper, not wanting to having to admit that his shoulder was dislocated...for that meant that someone would have to relocate it, and push it back into place...and he only wanted one person to do that...he allowed another whimper to escape his lips. That one person wasn't there however.  
  
Izumi emerged a few minutes later from another direction, with dampened hair and grinning.  
  
"Oh, I'm so glad we found a small river nearby! Even though the water was cold, it felt good to bathe, and...oh my gosh, what's wrong?" She noticed Takuya, curled up in a ball, whimpering just then as she let go of her hair, for she had been wringing the excess water out of it.  
  
"He thinks his shoulder is dislocated...and I think it is...I haven't tried to get near it though to check it out and I doubt he'll let me." Izumi sighed and shook her head.  
  
"I wish that Kouji was here with us...I really do..." Takuya's eyes widened as he heard his koi's name and suddenly remembered the nightmare he had had that had woken him up.  
  
"Kouji! Someone's gotta go after him! Grumblemon is hunting him!" The other two looked startled.  
  
"Hunting him? Who's Grumblemon?" Junpei asked, and Takuya shook his head.  
  
"The Digimon that fought us the other night...Grumblemon...said he wanted our spirits, and would stop at nothing to get them from us...he...hurt me bad...and my data appeared, Kouji didn't want him taking my spirit and so he led Grumblemon off in another direction...!" Tomoki came through then, with dampened hair as well...he had washed in another part of the river and hadn't seen Izumi return.  
  
"What's wrong with Takuya?" He asked, in concern for his friend but Izumi and Junpei only shook their heads at him, and looked at Takuya to continue his explanation.  
  
"I...I just had...a nightmare...involving Kouji..." Takuya muttered, now gritting his teeth in pain...he doubted that any of the other three with him knew how to set his shoulder...  
  
"And...he was chasing him...Kouji...looked pretty bad..." Takuya moaned and sat back, letting out a cry of pain and frustration...why did this seem to happen to him and Kouji?!? Was the Digital World out to get them or something? The others just did not know what to do, and they knew that Takuya probably wouldn't let them help him...  
  
When Takuya was finished screaming out his anger, he shook his head and panted heavily...oh...Kouji...how badly he wanted him right now...to come and tell him that everything was alright, to soothe the pain away and take care of him...he didn't want Tomoki, Junpei, and Izumi there with him.  
  
They heard the noise in the surrounding area above and to the left of them way too late...the sound of someone dashing through the forested area of the mountain trail that they were off of. The four teens eyes opened wide.  
  
"Who...?" Izumi whispered, and Takuya's eyes were focused on the foliage around them.  
  
"Kouji...?" He murmured, unable to stand the pain as he felt darkness closing in...but not before he saw the figure of Grumblemon emerge again, growling about spirits...and then all went black...  
  
~***~  
  
When he awoke again, he was in utter darkness...he had no idea where he was, or what was going on. But he did see a pair of glowing red eyes, staring at him hard...  
  
He gulped, and felt the hot fiery pain in his shoulder...it still hadn't been set yet...and his ribs hurt like hell. He moaned.  
  
  
  
"K-Kouji?" He managed to choke out, and the owner of the red eyes blinked for a moment and the eyes vanished. But when they appeared again, they were right next to him, and Takuya felt cool stone on his forehead. He flinched at the touch, and winced at the pain that throbbed in his head.  
  
"I'm not Kouji...I'm a Digimon..." Takuya squinted through the darkness and made out the figure of a small rock-like Digimon.  
  
"But I think I know who you are talking of...does this...Kouji have dark hair in a ponytail?" Takuya gasped as he nodded, praying that this Digimon knew exactly where Kouji was.  
  
"Do you...have any idea...where...?" The rock Digimon shook his head.  
  
"No, but I did see two other Digimon with him...he was talking something about getting a Beast Spirit." Takuya's eyes narrowed...beast spirit? How long had he been out? He asked this question, and the Digimon shrugged.  
  
"I don't know...I found you half dead...no one was around you...I dragged you to safety...it looked like there had been a big fight." The Digimon told him, and Takuya groaned.  
  
Now he didn't even have the others here, and he didn't know what happened to them...were they hurt as well, or separated from one another, or what? Now he felt worse then what he had when he had woken up.  
  
"What...are you?" Takuya whispered, and the Digimon's glowing red eyes looked at him in pity.  
  
"I'm a Gastumon...and you are...?"  
  
"T-Takuya..." The brunette managed, before he passed out again...hoping that he would still be in the same spot when he woke up.  
  
~***~  
  
"Oh thank goodness he's here!"  
  
"Yeah, but he doesn't look too good!"  
  
"I know that you nincompoop!"  
  
"That's why I decided to go and find you again...I...I didn't think he was doing too good, and he had said your name before he passed out...I figured that...that you know, you'd be able to help him or something..."  
  
"It was good that you came to find me...oh god..." He knew that voice...among the other voices, he knew that voice. He wanted to wake up, really and truly he did...but at the moment he just didn't think that he could...he didn't have the energy to do so.  
  
"Bokomon, Neemon, are there any bandages or medical supplies in this village at all? If there are, go and find them...if there's a healing Digimon, you might as well go and find that as well...I'm not sure if I can fix his shoulder..." The voice was trembling, and he felt a hand on his warm forehead and heard as sigh.  
  
"He's got a fever...and his ribs don't look to good either...damnit you guys, what happened?" Takuya wanted to tell him...oh god, he wanted him to hold him...it was Kouji...he was with Kouji...but he felt himself drifting off again...he'd have to remember to thank the Gatsomon later...bit all his body wanted to do was sleep, and he feel unconscious again, hoping beyond hope that he'd be with Kouji still when he woke up...  
  
~***~  
  
"I think he's waking up..."  
  
"I think you might be right."  
  
He groaned, but wasn't in as much pain as he was when he had woken up the past couple of times. He opened his eyes very slowly, and felt a hand tighten around his own. When he looked over to his right, he saw none other then Kouji Minomoto, glancing at him with nothing but deep concern and love in his blue gray eyes.  
  
"K-Kouji?" Kouji nodded, and smiled warmly down at him, gripping his hand tighter in his own.  
  
"Yeah...it's me..." His boyfriend looked a little worse for the wear, but not as bad as he was.  
  
"What...happened...?" Kouji nodded his head to where the Gatsomon was looking out the window of the hut they were in.  
  
"You've got him to thank. This little guy had ran into me before running into you, and put two and two together. He came and got me, because he knew you couldn't really be moved more then you already had, and I carried you to this village that's quite away into the mountain, in a valley that we would've probably never found.  
  
Takuya nodded, and found that he was able to breath better. When he looked down, he saw that his chest was bandaged up, his shirt was off...and his shoulder was in a sling.  
  
"Is it...?"  
  
"Set?" Kouji finished for him, and he nodded, looking grim.  
  
"Yeah...Grumblemon did a nasty job on it, luckily one of the Gatsomon here managed to go and fetch a healing Digimon in the other village a little further away and he came and helped take care of you until he thought you'd be okay."  
  
"What was the Digimon?"  
  
"Menonamon...they're healing type Digimon, but they're rare around here...there was only that one, and it took quite a bit of bribery to get him to come." Takuya sighed and nestled himself further into the pillows.  
  
"Your fever is broken, so that's a good thing." Kouji then told him, with a warm smile that reached his eyes...Takuya loved it when that happened, because then Kouji's eyes got all sparkly...something that none of the other's saw, except for himself.  
  
"Bokomon and Neemon are here too?" He asked the dark haired teen, who nodded and looked around with a shrug.  
  
"They must've stepped out to give us some privacy, with the Gatsomon who rescued you..." Kouji smiled mischievously then, and Takuya smiled right back.  
  
"Oh...privacy, huh?" Kouji nodded as he leaned in and gave Takuya a deep kiss.  
  
When they broke for air, Takuya shivered and Kouji raised an eyebrow in concern.  
  
"You alright?" Takuya shook his head suddenly, and Kouji frowned.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"N-nothing...but...when I woke up, I had Izumi, Tomoki, and Junpei with me...and then...then I didn't realize how badly I was hurt until Izumi realized that my ribs were probably broken or something...and I passed out and then I realized my shoulder was messed up...and after that Grumblemon..." Both of Kouji's eyebrows raised and a furious look appeared on his face.  
  
"Grumblemon! Did he attack you guys?" Takuya shivered at the name and nodded.  
  
"Yeah...he did...I passed out, so I don't know what happened...then I woke up again and found the Gatsomon who told me that he knew you, and maybe knew where you were and...and...all I wanted to do was find you..." Kouji smiled softly, the fierce look in his eyes dimming down to nothing but a look of love.  
  
"It's okay...you found me...well, the Gatsomon found me to be precise, but you're here with me now...and I'm sorry, I should've been there for you..." Kouji murmured, trying to soothe the brunette as he brushed back some fallen hair out of his eyes.  
  
"You have no idea, how badly I wanted to wake up and see you instead of Izumi..." Takuya murmured, and Kouji's eyes hardened again.  
  
"Did she do anything?" Takuya shook his head though and waved a hand.  
  
"No! She didn't, she was really nice actually and she tried to help me, god she tried but I only wanted one person..." Kouji's expression softened once more as he kissed him again and Takuya shivered.  
  
"Are you cold?" Kouji asked, and Takuya gave a half smirk, half grin.  
  
"Well, my shirt is off...don't you think I'm cold?" Kouji groaned and reached over to another chair where Takuya's two shirts were hanging, and was about to toss them to him when Takuya pulled him close so that his upper half was on the bed, and found Takuya grinning mischievously, his dark brown eyes twinkling. Kouji smirked, knowing what was coming next.  
  
"You know, I was thinking...instead of putting my shirts back on...care to join me?" Takuya allowed Kouji to move up so that he could raise the bed sheets a little so that Kouji could climb in...and he kicked off his shoes and blue and white windbreaker and did so, snuggling in with the brunette.  
  
"Mmmmm...better?" Kouji asked, definitely feeling a lot better then he had for a couple of days now, and Takuya nodded, yawning.  
  
"Oh yeah...one hundred percent..." He wrapped an arm around Kouji's shoulder's, bringing him closer and Kouji snuggled his head against Takuya's uninjured shoulder.  
  
"You know, I'm sorry you got so hurt, but...I'm kind of glad actually..." Kouji murmured softly, and Takuya glared playfully at him.  
  
"You are, are you?" Kouji grinned.  
  
"Well...only because we're here now...together...curled up on a soft bed...warm..." Takuya thought about it and then gave a curt nod.  
  
"Yeah, very true...now shut up and kiss me already." Kouji gladly obliged as he did so, but found himself stopping a few minutes later when he saw his koi falling asleep, and smirked.  
  
"Go figure...you want to kiss, and then you want to sleep..." But then the dark haired teen found himself yawning, and shook his head, glaring at Takuya as he yawned again.  
  
"This is all your fault you know...I wasn't feeling tired at all until you brought me into bed..." And part of it was true...but then again Kouji hadn't slept for almost four nights now, and sleep was rather inviting...his adrenaline was giving out, and before he knew it his head was resting comfortably once again on Takuya's uninjured shoulder as he snuggled up close to the brunette, kissing him softly as his own eyes slowly closed.  
  
Outside the hut, a soft giggle could be heard and then a sharp 'ow!' Shortly thereafter.  
  
"What did you do that for?!?"  
  
"Because...because..." Neemon grinned at Bokomon, who just sighed and shook his head.  
  
"Admit it! You think they look cute too!" Neemon insisted, and Bokomon shook his head but was smiling anyway.  
  
"Yes, I do think that they look cute together, and after hearing some of what Takuya has been through without Kouji...well, they deserve a good rest." Bokomon added, and held up the book. Neemon groaned.  
  
"Oh no..." Bokomon nodded.  
  
"Oh yes, we need to find out more about this Beast Spirit deal, and I haven't yet checked all the sources of this book, so I'm staying up to do so." Neemon grinned and tugged on one of his ears.  
  
"Then does that mean I get to sleep too? I'm tired...we were walking around forever after we lost the other three when they found Takuya..." Bokomon glared at Neemon and snapped his pants as the other Digimon lost his footing in the process and fell to the ground, glaring back at Bokomon.  
  
"You didn't have to do that!" He snapped, feeling irritated, and Bokomon just waved him off.  
  
"You're cranky and crabby, so obviously I have no choice but to let you sleep, because I can't stand you when you're like this...so go and snore the night away if you must. I however am staying awake and looking for more information on Beast Spirits." Neemon just shrugged.  
  
"Alright, suite yourself." And with that, he went to find someplace warm to sleep for the evening, as Bokomon settled himself in a tree, flipping through the pages of the book for the information he desired.  
  
However, a half an hour later, when the Gatsomon who had found Takuya and taken Kouji to him, came to ask him a question, he found the Digimon fast asleep, book open on his chest. The Gatsomon smiled and retrieved a blanket from somewhere, climbing the small climb to the branch where Bokomon was at and gently placed the blanket over him. All Bokomon did, was roll over a little, and continue sleeping, and the Gatsomon smiled.  
  
I hope he's found more on that spirit ordeal...cause I'm sure interested in it myself...though I won't tell them...but I will try and follow them wherever they go...if I get that spirit, and Digivolve, I'll be able to protect my village from Grumblemon's assaults... The Gatsomon then nodded to himself and clambered down the tree as he headed for his own sleeping spot, checking up on the two sleeping teenagers on his way. He smiled.  
  
With that one final thought, he headed off to his own hut, ready for an early morning...he wanted to be up when the other's were up, not wanting to miss a single bit of action...  
  
  
  
TBC...  
  
End of chapter Rambling: ::grins to herself:: Ah...I like this chapter MUCH, MUCH better then I did the other one! So perfect...^-~ And yes, for those of you who are wondering within the next few chapters, Kouji'll probably get his Beast Spirit...don't think I wasn't going to have that not happen now were you? ::mischievous grin:: And yes, they're back together now...(Alright, everyone can say 'awwwwwwww cute' now...go on...I KNOW you want too! *^-^*) do you really think that I'd leave them apart more then I have too? They're too cute together! (Okay, now I have myself going 'awwwww, cute!' -_-;; ) 


	13. Information of the Spirits

Disclaimer: Takuya + Kouji = me no owning Digimon  
  
Author's Notes: I am sooooooo sorry you guys! ;-; It's taken me forever to update this, and I really do apologize to all of you...and to make up for it, I've posted two chapters here, so read onto your hearts content! I DO have an excuse for not updating this...actually, three excuses...one of them being Eternity (my other Takouji fic, which I know that many of you who are reading this are reading that one as well) because I've been working hard on that one to finish that one up. The second one is that I've been madly trying to figure out exactly where I want this fic to go next (as it is different from the original season in many ways, with this being an AU filled with Takoujiness! ^-~) and my muses weren't helping me much at all :P The other excuse (is more pathetic then the first and the second... -_-;;) is that I went and saw the Return of the King (the third and last installation of the Lord of the Rings movie) the week it came out and I saw it again...and now I'm in a major Legolas/Aragorn kick...-_-;; I can't help it! This has happened every time that I have gone to see any of the Lord of the Rings movies, and it all started with the first one when I realized how drop dead gorgeous Orlando Bloom is as Legolas and...and...::watches as hearts dance around Angel Spirit's head:: Okay, I know that here is NOT the place to talk about as this is Digimon, and not Lord of the Rings, but that basically explains what this authoress has been up too...I've been scouring the Lord of the Rings section for Legolas and Aragorn fics (be it friendship or otherwise...and DO NOT tell me that Arwen and Aragorn get together...I know that, but not in my heart and mind they don't! so :P) so that explains my long absence, and once again I am sorry...but...let's end this rambling about how cute Legolas/Orldando Bloom is, and how awesome elves are, shall we? So you guys can read the long awaited chapter 14...?  
  
Warning: If you don't like the thought of Takuya and Kouji being together then this isn't the fic for you...so shoo!  
  
Story Rating: PG13  
  
Chapter Summary: Kouji and Takuya travel on, learning more about the Beast Spirits from Bokomon as they do. They finally catch up with the others in a inn at the next Digimon village, and Takuya and Kouji get some alone time together...but trouble arises when Grumblemon comes into play, and Kouji's on the run...  
  
Different Journeys  
  
Author: Angel Spirit  
  
Chapter 14: Information of the Spirits  
  
"Wake up sleepy head." Kouji Minomoto groaned as he rolled over to see Takuya sitting next to him on the bed, shirts back on and looking like he was ready to get a move on with things. He groaned in protest and rolled over again, winning a smirk from Takuya.  
  
"Oh, ho...so now you want to sleep, huh?" He teased, and Kouji pulled the bed sheet over his eyes so that way the sun light wouldn't bother him...and he hoped that Takuya would just leave him alone...he wasn't the one who had been up for four countless nights...last night had been the first night of sleep he'd had since leaving Takuya's side when he had left to lure Grumblemon away.  
  
"You've gotten plenty of sleep...my turn." The dark haired teen grunted, and Takuya chuckled as he grabbed hold of the sheet and gave it a firm tug, causing it to be pulled out of Kouji's hands as he moaned and shielded his eyes from the sun, with his now free hands as he glared at Takuya, who smiled mischievously at him.  
  
"I'm gonna have to hurt you now." Kouji grumbled as he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and then went about fixing his hair, as Takuya had taken it out of it's ponytail the previous night before.  
  
"Yeah, but the only harm you're gonna give me is a kiss...right?" Takuya asked, his eyes pleading as Kouji grunted and finished off his ponytail and then found his bandanna. Takuya pouted when he didn't get his kiss as Kouji ignored him and fixed his bandanna so that his hair was now one hundred percent of the way out of his face, and then turned toward his koi and gave him a quick kiss.  
  
"Happy?" He asked, a small smile on his face as he noticed that Takuya still pouted as he followed Kouji out of the hut.  
  
"No...that wasn't long enough." The brunette muttered, and Kouji chuckled.  
  
"Too bad...that's what you get when you wake me up and keep me up." Takuya sniggered and shrugged.  
  
"What? Can I help it if I'm feeling energetic?" Kouji sighed and shook his head as he turned around and placed his hands in his pockets, walking backwards so he could talk to Takuya instead of feeling like Takuya was talking to his back.  
  
"Yeah, you're feeling energetic...I haven't slept in four nights..." Takuya bit his lower lip, suddenly looking sorry as he apologized. Kouji brushed it off however.  
  
"Don't worry about it...you can...apologize later..." He whispered with a smirk as Takuya pulled him close and grabbed his hand.  
  
"Where are Bokomon and Neemon?" Kouji murmured, knowing that they couldn't leave without those two...Bokomon had said the other night that he was going to do some research on the whole 'Beast Spirit' ordeal, and Kouji was actually hoping to hear more about it, as he hoped that Bokomon had found something worth hearing.  
  
"I don't know, I haven't seen them this morning...or any of the other Gatsomon around here at all...the one that had found me and led you to me seems to have disappeared as well." Takuya said, and Kouji shrugged as he heard the sound of someone snoring in their sleep nearby, and glanced up to see Neemon curled up on a fairly good sized tree branch, one of his ears twitching as he turned over a little to far...  
  
Both teens winced as they watched the scene unfold before them, and Takuya chuckled while Kouji hid a smile.  
  
"Ouch...that one had to hurt..." Takuya murmured, and that got Kouji laughing as they headed to where Neemon was now rubbing his butt, as it had broken his fall. He looked confused for a moment, and then saw Takuya and Kouji and smiled ruefully.  
  
"Remind me not to sleep in a tree tonight..." He muttered, and Takuya laughed as he asked where Bokomon was. Neemon shrugged.  
  
"I dunno...he told me I was cranky the other night, and crabby too, and then said that I should go and get some sleep...so I did so. I haven't seen him since."  
  
"Was he going to look up information on those Beast Spirits?" Kouji asked, and Neemon nodded.  
  
"Yeah...I think that's what he said he was going to do, but..."  
  
Another light snore interrupted their conversation as the trio looked up to another tree to find Bokomon fast asleep, a blanket over him. Takuya and Kouji smirked at one another as Neemon let out a groan.  
  
"And he was complaining last night about me wanting to sleep!" Neemon grumbled as he leapt up the tree to wake the other sleeping Digimon.  
  
He poked Bokomon once...then twice...and a third time...the fourth time, awarded him a smack in the arm that sent Neemon tumbling back down to the ground again as Bokomon sat up and stretched, then looked around him with an embarrassing look on his face.  
  
"Sorry...I...must've dozed off I suppose." He grinned sheepishly and shrugged as he made his way down the tree without falling and landing squarely with both feet on the ground. By this time, Kouji was leaning against the tree that they'd found Bokomon asleep in, eyes half shut as though he were ready to fall asleep any second, with a small amused smile that could barely be detected. Takuya had leaned up against him, his left arm still in it's sling, but Kouji avoided it and had his right arm snaked around Takuya's waist, holding him close. Neemon took one look at the two and grinned, as Bokomon just shook his head.  
  
"Alright you two lovebirds, let's get a move on!" Bokomon insisted as he brushed himself off, and now it was Kouji's turn to pout, as Takuya grumbled while he moved away from the dark haired teens embrace. But they did have to get going.  
  
As the sun rose a little higher in the sky, causing the three moons of the Digital World to vanish, the four were soon on their way through the valley and back to the mountains where they had last met up with the others...and then left them again. Every once in awhile, Bokomon would go 'hmmm...' or 'interesting,' as he flipped through the pages of 'the book' while looking for the information on Beast Spirits that Kouji had asked him to do the previous night.  
  
It got so that soon, he was driving Kouji crazy, and he couldn't stand it any longer as he halted their hike and crossed his arms over his chest. Takuya hated it when Kouji got that way...that usually meant that he'd be that way for the rest of the day. So in turn he turned around and glared at Bokomon, who paid no heed as he didn't think that he was doing anything wrong. But for Takuya, whenever Kouji was in a bad mood like he was...it meant that he'd get to sleep by himself tonight...and it hadn't even been his fault in the first place! Takuya scowled at the thought of sleeping under the stars without Kouji next to him to keep him warm, and when no one said anything, he sighed.  
  
"Look, Bokomon, you've been driving us all crazy over the past few miles with that stupid book of yours! So either tell us what you've found...or shut up already!"  
  
"You can keep your temper Takuya, I was just ready to call us to a halt to tell you what I've found so we can take a rest at the same time!" Bokomon declared crossly, and Takuya rolled his eyes.  
  
"Fine...we're halted...so tell us already." Kouji muttered, as he found the nearest rock that was capable of being sat on, and sat on it as he went to adjust his ponytail underneath his bandanna, moving it up a little higher so that it stayed off his neck, and yet protected it from getting sunburned at the same time. Bokomon took a deep breath (which sounded like there was some grumbling along with it about ill-tempered teenagers) and then settled himself on the ground with his book open in his lap.  
  
Takuya-still pouting because Bokomon had gotten Kouji irritated (and that Kouji was still irritated, so that meant that he couldn't be all cuddly with him while they were resting for the time being) sat back against the rock wall and tried to pay as much attention to Bokomon as he could without staring at Kouji and getting lost in his own thoughts.  
  
"Along with the information you've requested about the Beast Spirits Kouji, I've also been doing a little bit of digging on that Grumblemon fellow that seems to always appear whenever we don't want him around...he's one of the Dark Hybrid Spirits, who are determined to keep the other spirits for themselves and reunite them with evil instead of the light...so in other words, he's going to try to keep on getting your human spirits until they are his to use as he will." Kouji just raised an eyebrow at this, trying to decipher it all, and even Takuya had to admit that Bokomon had his full attention now (well, most of it anyway! ^-~).  
  
"His main weapon is the club that you both saw him with earlier, as I'm sure that's what managed to get Takuya in the shape he's in now..."  
  
"HEY!" Takuya protested, interrupting Bokomon at this point and receiving a glare from the Digimon.  
  
"It wasn't all my fault you know...he took us by surprise." Takuya complained, and Bokomon nodded his head.  
  
"That's one of his specialties-catching people off guard and attacking them...draining them of their 'energy' and adding it to his own...it's how he survives." Kouji groaned at this and rubbed his eyes with one hand.  
  
"So after he gets our spirit, then what? He'll suck the life out of us like a vampire?" Bokomon thought about Kouji's question, before shrugging.  
  
"Never thought about it that way before...he's no vampire...but...you could say something like that. Anyway, the deal on the Beast Spirits is this-you all have one." This got Takuya's and Kouji's abrupt attention as they looked at Bokomon with questioning looks in their eyes and curious expressions on their faces.  
  
"We all have one...? All...hey, Bokomon, by all do you also mean Junpei, Izumi, and Tomoki?" Bokomon nodded at Takuya's question, as Kouji groaned softly.  
  
"Great...so we are a team then...or we have to be anyway." The dark haired teen murmured, and again, Bokomon nodded.  
  
"Yes...you're right Kouji...you all are a team-the Digi Destined- sworn to protect both our world, and yours." Takuya shook his head as he stood.  
  
"You're crazy...both worlds? Since when did we sign up for that trip?" He demanded, and Bokomon sighed as he gestured toward Takuya's red and black Detector that hung on his belt.  
  
"You signed up for the trip when you got that, and then got your human spirit...that signed the deal." Bokomon added smugly, and Takuya sighed.  
  
"Great...so what else about this beast spirit?" He asked, to get the topic back on track and to also avoid any confrontation with Bokomon about what he'd just said. The Digimon bristled in annoyance, but continued.  
  
"Like I was saying, you all have a beast spirit...and you might not necessarily get them in the order that you received your human spirits in. But the beast spirits are slightly harder to control then the human ones...and they're not easy to find either."  
  
"We've got to find them?" Kouji questioned, and Bokomon nodded at him, as he sighed and stood as well, massaging his neck a bit as he looked down at the two digimon.  
  
"How will we know if we've even gotten close to finding our beast spirits?" Bokomon shrugged at Kouji.  
  
"I'm not sure...it doesn't say in the book at all...but I've got the feeling that your Detectors might tell you if you're close to the beast spirit's...they did when you all got your human one's." Both teens nodded and stretched out their sore aching muscles from all the hiking they'd done so far.  
  
"Then let's get going...unless if we want to camp underneath the stars, I say we find that next Digimon city by nightfall...I found out from the Gatsomon while Takuya was out of it earlier, that the next city is just about a day and a half away...I think if we hike it quickly the rest of the day we might be able to get there." Takuya nodded and then followed Kouji out, feeling slightly miserable as he continued to glare at Bokomon's backside.  
  
~***~  
  
It was near midnight or so by the time they finally reached the next village, and Takuya's shoulder was starting to ache-not to mention his feet, and he had to admit that he was practically starving as well. One look at Kouji told him that his koi was probably feeling the same way-save the shoulder part as all Kouji had been rewarded with his fight with Grumblemon had been a few scrapes and bruises.  
  
"Can we stop...please?" Takuya whispered a few minutes later, feeling as though he really couldn't go much further. In fact, he was falling behind, and at Takuya's request, Kouji turned around-the deep, thoughtful look he had worn on his face all day softening as he headed back to where the brunette stood crouching to get his breath back. They'd kept up a steady pace all day-and now Takuya was tired-he assumed that Kouji was probably more tired then he was-he'd had less sleep then he had that past week. So how in the world did his koi manage to keep on going all day?  
  
"Here...let me help." Kouji whispered as Takuya nodded and leaned into him, giving a small relaxed sigh at the warmth that radiated off of Kouji-for some reason Takuya felt cold...maybe it was the chill in the night, or the fact that the city seemed way to quiet for him...obviously Kouji was thinking the same thing, his head tilted for a moment as though he was trying to figure out the meaning behind all the silence.  
  
"This is a city?" He asked Bokomon, who looked around with a small look of apprehension on his face.  
  
"It's supposed to be a city...why don't we go knock on all the doors and wake everyone up so it can be a city for you guys?" Bokomon replied crankily, still feeling irritated from the argument earlier that day. Takuya sighed, feeling his knees give in as Kouji helped keep him from falling.  
  
"Damn it..." Takuya cursed, as Kouji helped him sit, and the brunette brought his knees up to his chest, feeling shaky and drained. Kouji looked around, biting his lower lip.  
  
"No offense Bokomon, but this place is like a ghost town...any chance we can find a place to stay and rest? I don't think that Takuya can go on any further-and neither can I for that matter." Takuya's head shot up in surprise as Kouji admitted that, and found Kouji smiling lightly down at him.  
  
"I'm tired too...and I think we're all hungry...Bokomon?" Bokomon sighed and agreed as he and Neemon headed off in search of a place for them to stay. Kouji followed with Takuya, after allowing him to rest for a bit longer. The brunette leaned against Kouji, making their way slowly through the city until they came to what looked like an inn-and Neemon was standing outside of it, waiting for them, a big grin on his face.  
  
"They've got a vacancy! And Bokomon's checking on the price of the-" before he could finish his sentence though, he was cut off by a squeal, and Takuya and Kouji looked up to see Izumi standing before them, a relieved look on her face.  
  
"You two are alright! Gods Takuya, we were worried about you when we couldn't find you! How did you guys find each other?!?" Kouji groaned- that was the last thing he wanted. He really didn't want to talk to Izumi, and he was just about to suggest them going elsewhere when suddenly Junpei appeared next to Izumi, a small grin on his face.  
  
"Hey..." Kouji nodded at the other brunettes soft greeting, who seemed to have figured out within the first two seconds of meeting them there, that from the way he and Takuya were looking that they'd both just been through hell-which, was somewhat of an accurate statement.  
  
"We grabbed the last two rooms here...if you two want to join us, you're more then welcome too." Izumi said softly, and Takuya looked pleadingly at Kouji, who sighed softly and nodded.  
  
"Yeah...we'd like that actually. I think I'm just as tired as Takuya..."  
  
"And just as dirty too...they've got a bathing area here, and you two are more then welcome to use it...free of charge according to the inn manager here, though we don't know why-for some reason our board for the night was even free too. It's kind of strange." Izumi commented as she moved to help Kouji with Takuya, who only shot her a sharp look and she backed off, looking a little dismayed. It wasn't that Kouji didn't like Izumi...it was just that he was hoping he'd be able to spend some alone time with Takuya tonight. And if they were sharing a room with Tomoki, and Junpei he doubted that they'd get that alone time-since obviously they'd gotten two rooms so Izumi could have her own-being the only girl in the group.  
  
"Thanks Izumi." Kouji growled, more at the comment she'd made about their cleanliness then anything else...but she had a point, he and Takuya hadn't managed to have a decent bath or anything else since coming to the Digital World...and suddenly he wanted his hair clean as he was aware of just how dirty it had gotten over the past several days.  
  
"Why don't you two go and get cleaned up and we'll see to getting some food?" Junpei suggested, and Takuya nodded, looking around for a moment.  
  
"Hey, where's Tomoki?" He asked tiredly, and Izumi smiled gently at him.  
  
"He fell asleep, so we decided to just leave him be for now...we've been traveling for quite some time now, I'm surprised that I'm not asleep yet!" She said with a chuckle, and Takuya found himself grinning a little at this as Kouji motioned for them to go and they headed off in the direction that Izumi had indicated the bathing area to be...  
  
~***~  
  
A few hours later, Takuya and Kouji somehow managed to have the second room all to themselves. Kouji was amazed...Izumi had actually said that she'd be willing to share a room with Junpei and Tomoki, after Junpei figured out that Kouji and Takuya obviously wanted more alone time then what they had while bathing. Kouji was somewhat happier too-his hair was still a bit damp as he had braided it to keep it out of his face, and even Takuya looked cleaner then he had in days. Kouji found himself grinning at the brunette, who was having difficulty taking off his shirt, and so Kouji went over to help him.  
  
Takuya froze at first when he felt Kouji's warm arms help guide his shirt off, and then he relaxed as he leaned against the dark haired teen.  
  
"I can't believe that Izumi was that nice..." he murmured, and Kouji just chuckled.  
  
"She probably thinks that I still hate her from what she tried to do the last time we all caught up with each other." Takuya just smirked and groaned.  
  
"Don't use that to your advantage Kouji." He muttered and Kouji just raised an eyebrow as he pulled Takuya closer to him.  
  
"I'm not...I just haven't told her that I don't really hate her guts completely-that's all." He whispered into Takuya's ear, who sighed in happiness. He turned so that he was now staring into Kouji's eyes, and though they held a tired look in them, Takuya also found a hint of mischief within those dark blue gray orbs as well.  
  
"Mmmm...you know, I'm tired? I think instead of joining the others for the conversation we were going to have with Bokomon and Neemon about the Beast Spirits can wait, and that we should...turn in early..." Kouji allowed his voice to trail off, and Takuya grinned as he kissed Kouji gently on the forehead, allowing his hand to trail down his face.  
  
"Yeah...? Maybe...besides, you and I already know about the Beast Spirits...and I really don't want to have another argument with Bokomon." Kouji grinned back as he and Takuya found themselves falling onto the bed- Takuya taking off Kouji's shirt the best to his abilities with his aching shoulder as he had decided to leave his sling off after bathing (much to Kouji's protests about him needing it to help heal his shoulder faster, to Takuya the damned thing was nothing but a big nuisance), as Kouji already had his windbreaker off. The first kiss was slow, and soon the two boys knew nothing of their surroundings, focusing only on themselves and what they wanted at that moment. Eventually, both boys fell asleep in the silence of the night, Kouji having his head leaning onto Takuya's uninjured shoulder, watching as the brunette slept peacefully. He felt his own eyes start to droop...and never heard the scream that aroused from the next room over a couple of hours later...  
  
~***~  
  
When Kouji woke, he instantly knew that something was wrong. It was warm...too warm. He and Takuya were still in the same position they'd been in since he'd fallen asleep, but he knew he wouldn't be able too go back to sleep unless he found out what was so wrong.  
  
Heading toward the window Kouji withdrew the curtain, and let out a startled gasp. The whole village was on fire-part of it already burned to the ground.  
  
He dropped the curtain and turned to get Takuya, hearing footsteps approaching their doorway. He lunged onto the bed, grabbing Takuya's arm and shaking him awake. He shook a little harder when he didn't get any response and finally Takuya opened an eye, grumbling something about this being far to early for a wake up call.  
  
"Takuya, we've got trouble!" Kouji hissed, and Takuya sat up, a little too quickly as Kouji threw him his pants, which he gratefully accepted as Kouji scrambled to pull his on as well. He was just putting on his yellow shirt he found discarded onto the floor when the door was thrown open and before them, were a few angry looking Digimon.  
  
"You're the ones who're causing all these problems! You're the ones he's looking for!" One of them hollered, and Kouji scrambled off the bed, going to stand in front of Takuya, glaring at the Digimon.  
  
"Yeah, so what if we are? And who's looking for us?" Kouji growled darkly, but the other Digimon didn't back down.  
  
"We've already got your pathetic friends...and the one that's looking for you, is Grumblemon. He's set the village on fire! He's on the rampage and won't stop unless we give him what he wants!" A Veggiemon hollered, using his vines to strike out and grab a hold of Takuya, who had just stood up next to Kouji, looking angry...and then in shock as the vines wrapped around his arms, and legs tightly, causing him to fall to the floor with a groan. He had taken his sling off earlier...what a mistake that had been.  
  
"Kouji! RUN!" Takuya managed to holler, and for a moment, Kouji looked like he wasn't going too as the Veggiemon got ready to use his attack on Kouji as well, with the spare vines that he had.  
  
"If you don't get out of here, there will be no way for the rest of us to escape! Go Kouji, I'll be fine! Find that Beast Spirit!" Takuya shouted as he struggled, and Kouji knew that that was what he had to do.  
  
When the Veggiemon aimed his vines at Kouji, Kouji dodged...but not quick enough as the vines managed to snake their way around his waist and lift him up to the ground. Kouji struggled, his eyes opening wide as he realized two things-one, that the Veggimon didn't have any other vines to help control Kouji's struggling figure...the rest were all being used to hold down Takuya...and the second thing was, was that the Veggiemon was starting to tighten the vines around his waist...and soon Kouji felt like he couldn't breathe.  
  
When Takuya saw Kouji slump unconsciously in the tight hold that the Veggiemon had held him in, he let out a cry of dismay. Kouji wasn't breathing...at least Takuya couldn't see him breathing...he cried out and struggled violently, the Veggiemon's grip on him having loosened as it was too busy trying too take Kouji down. As Takuya managed to get his left arm out of the vines around his body, he made a grab for his Detector, hoping that as Agunimon, he'd be able too at least get himself and Kouji away from the Veggiemon and the other evil Digimon who stood their grinning wickedly at Kouji's sudden defeat.  
  
Just as Takuya had his hand tightly gripped around his Detector, the Veggiemon's grip tightened around him, and Takuya groaned as he looked to see that the grip on Kouji had lessened, his eyes turning thoughtful. Could it be that maybe, just maybe the Veggiemon couldn't control all of his vines at the same time? Was there a way that Takuya could cause enough ruckus to have the Veggiemon focus all of his attention on him, instead of Kouji? Watching Kouji's limp body in Veggiemon's other vines, Takuya knew that there was only one thing to do-to test out his theory.  
  
"You think that you can defeat us that easily? Well, try this on for size!" Takuya hollered defiantly, feeling the evolution take place as he started to become Agunimon...and then gasping as the vines tightened around him much, much tighter then before, causing him to drop out of the evolution...and to also drop his Detector.  
  
"NO!" He cried out in panic, struggling against the twist of the vines that held him so tightly and looked in dismay at his fallen detector, which the Veggiemon was loosening one of the vines around Kouji to pick up, obviously thinking that since Kouji was unconscious, he was less of a threat then Takuya, and could afford to let loose one of the vines that held him. But the Veggiemon was gravely mistaken.  
  
Takuya watched, his eyes wide as the Veggiemon grabbed for his Detector...and then let out a piercing wail as it flashed a bright light, and when the light dimmed, Takuya gasped as he saw that his Detector had actually severed off the vine, and the Veggiemon was writhing in pain. As Takuya's Detector fell, it flashed again, much brighter this time. Again, the Veggiemon wailed in pain, and when Takuya blinked the brightness away from his eyes, he saw that the Detector had set Kouji free, and that now the Veggiemon was missing several vines, and glowering at Takuya as though it was his fault-which, he assumed that some of it probably was his fault. He gulped as the Veggiemon's red eyes narrowed into a painful glare, Kouji's limp, unconscious form forgotten on the floor.  
  
"You've just made it a lot harder on yourself brat...let's take him to the others...Grumblemon will be most pleased with us." Takuya continued to struggle as he knew that Kouji had been forgotten...and in that split second before he was taken out of the room, he glanced at his koi-who had not moved at all since being dropped, and Takuya wasn't even sure if he was breathing...it was the last sight of Kouji before he was taken out of the room, and placed in a cage several minutes later that held the others.  
  
~***~  
  
It was Takuya's cry of outrage that brought Kouji around as he groaned and his eyes opened slowly. He blinked several times to clear the red haze that surrounded his vision, before remembering what had happened, and gasped for breath as he drew the cool night air into his burning lungs...the Veggiemon had tried to strangle him to death just about! The thought horrified him for a moment, and the he came to his senses as he realized that lying on his back wasn't going to help him any further in rescuing Takuya, and rolled over...gasping in pain as he did so. By the gods...it hurt to breathe...  
  
Stars of pain flooded his vision and for a moment Kouji couldn't move as he finally managed to roll back into his backside and bite back a scream of pain that threatened to come forth. His ribs...they hurt...  
  
Squeezing his eyes, Kouji let out a choked sob as he figured out rather quickly that the Veggiemon must've done something to them while squeezing the life out of him only a short while ago.  
  
Managing to regain his breath, Kouji rolled over as fast as he could and got to his knees, breathing hard as his body voices it's complaints about the sudden abuse. But there was nothing he could do...he had to find Takuya. Standing up was no easy task, as he soon found out, and when he finally was standing, beads of sweat rolled down his face and his knees trembled feeling like they were ready to give in at any minute. Somehow, he managed to push aside his pain just as footsteps could be heard...coming right for the room he was in. Steeling himself, Kouji managed to make his way to the low window and fling himself over it as he gasped in the sudden jolting pain to his ribs at the landing. He stayed by the window as he heard the intruders coming in, finding it to be two of the Digimon from before...who had been accompanying Veggiemon...Kouji's eyes narrowed and he tried to still his harsh breathing.  
  
"I knew we were forgetting something! I swear, that Veggiemon never listens! And damnit...that little Destined brat got away!"  
  
"We'll have to tell Veggiemon...it'll sure make his day to find out that he forgot one of the chosen brats. Come on, we can maybe look and see if we can't find the pesky child on our way to where Veggiemon is with the other mongrel children he has."  
  
There were two voices, and from the sound of the footsteps, it sounded like they were leaving.  
  
Taking a small breath, Kouji forced himself to stand, the pain in his ribs slowly turning numb as he ignored it the best to his abilities. He knew he had to save Takuya...and even the others...but he also knew in his condition at the moment, that there would be no way he'd be able to save them now. He'd only get himself captured...and then what?  
  
That part was true. But what good would he be if he couldn't fight? Kouji bit lightly down on his lower lip and forced back the tears that threatened to flow. A big part of him wanted comfort then and there...at least if Takuya were there, he'd provide that comfort, and maybe help ease the pain in his ribs, which Kouji was now suspecting that some were broken from the strength that Veggiemon had applied earlier.  
  
No...he had to do what Takuya had told him to in the first place and run. But he wouldn't run too far. Not if he had a chance in tracking the Veggiemon and the other evil Digimon with him, at least he'd be able to follow his friends.  
  
Upon making that decision, he knew that if he stayed there much longer he'd be caught within seconds. He had to hide, at least until he was able to find his friends whereabouts...and then he'd go from there as he stayed low key, trying to hide in the shadows so not to get caught.  
  
He thought he heard at one point that he heard Takuya scream and he managed to hide quickly in the nearest alleyway that was still smoldering from the flames burning the village, and he mentally cursed himself as he slowly slid down the remaining parts of the stone wall, accessing his hurt ribs and burying his face in his arms. He had been stupid to not make one of the others stay up for night duty...stupid for not arranging the shifts so that they wouldn't be caught like this. Now those Digimon had Takuya-and from what he said, he also had Junpei, Tomoki, and Izumi...he didn't know about Bokomon and Neemon. Kouji found his hands balling into angry fists as he glared hatefully toward the direction of the inn that he had left, and he let his left hand drift off to where his Detector was in the pocket of his windbreaker.  
  
Kouji knew he was tired...he hadn't slept very much, and the previous night was the only night that he'd actually had a full night's sleep since the whole ordeal started with Grumblemon. Though he didn't really want to admit it-and now of all times-he was tired, his body protesting as he forced his eyes to stay awake, though he knew he needed the rest. But he couldn't risk closing his eyes...if he did, he's sleep...and he knew he couldn't do that for if he slept one of two things could happen-he could get caught. Kouji knew that the evil Digimon who had caught the others were probably now out looking for him, and if he wasn't careful to stay hidden well enough, he'd be trapped like the others. The other thing that could happen if he fell asleep is that he'd loose track of the others if he didn't find them now.  
  
He was trying to keep his eyes open, but the more he fought it, the more he succumbed to the much needed sleep his mind and body wanted so very much...  
  
His mind jolted awake some time later, and he cursed himself for falling asleep. Kouji wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep, but one look around the city told him that he'd fallen asleep long enough for some of the fire to die down or to be controlled and the village wasn't as in much ciaos as it had been when the fire had started and been at it's maximum.  
  
Kouji wondered what exactly had woken him, and then he knew what it was...he sensed someone watching him, and turned to see a pair of glowing red eyes staring at him, causing him to freeze in his movement and close his eyes as he was sure that it was one of the Digimon from the inn who had found him and was going to turn him in...  
  
TBC  
  
AN 2- if I misspelled Gatsomon, I'm sorry.I couldn't remember if it was Gatsumon or Gatsomon.heh.-_-;; 


	14. KendoGarurumon

Disclaimer: Takuya + Kouji = Takouji = me no owning Digimon.  
  
Author's Notes: Okay, so now that you guys know why I've been absent from this fic recently ::gulps nervously:: But here's the deal with this fic and what's going on at the moment. I did put two chapters up for you guys to enjoy to your hearts content...however...this chapter didn't quite go the way I wanted it too...I wanted it to be much longer, but I had to stop where I stopped for one reason...I...um...somehow lost the document that I had on my computer that obtained all the information that I had for season 04 (including all the Digi Destines Digimon Evolutions and their attacks, as well as those of the villains). This is where I need you guys to come in and help me, because I have managed to find all the information for the human spirits of both the Digi Destined and the Evil Hybrids and the human spirit attacks, but I need their Beast Spirit attacks...(I've got the names, I just need the attacks) so if any of you still remember what those attacks are (as it's been awhile since I've seen the show since they don't show it anymore ) or have a web site that's got the necessary information, can you please let me know in a review or send me an email? My email account is on my author's page...I thank anybody in advance who helps me! Now, that that is all done, let's get on with this fic...  
  
Warning: If you don't like the thought of Takuya and Kouji being together then I suggest you leave...now...you've been warned...and warned...and warned...and warned...=P And also, I MIGHT have Kouji a little OOC in this chapter.I hope I don't.I try not to do that.  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Pairings: Takuya/Kouji (That's the only definite couple in this fic for the moment)  
  
Chapter Summary: Kouji manages to avoid the Digimon who want him so that they can give him (and the rest of his friends) to Grumblemon so he can stop terrorizing their village that the Digi Destined were staying at. With the help of the Gatsomon who helped bring him and Takuya back together the first time. Kouji's on the hunt to get the other Digi Destined-and Takuya-back, but when the time comes for him to get his Beast Spirit, can he control it?  
  
Different Journeys  
  
Author: Angel Spirit  
  
Chapter 15: KendoGarurumon  
  
Kouji's breath hitched for a moment and he held it, hoping and praying that he hadn't been caught by the enemy as the glowing red eyes grew closer...and closer...  
  
Until he felt a hard hand upon his shoulder, causing him to jump and he hissed in pain as the sudden movement jarred his ribs, and he watched while the owner of the red eyes came out of the darkness, revealing himself. Kouji let out his breath that he'd been holding, and then glared at the Digimon in front of him.  
  
"Don't...ever...do...that...to me...AGAIN." He commanded, feeling a bit jumpier then usual, and the Gatsomon did look sorry while he apologized.  
  
"I was only hoping you weren't really going to run." The Gatsomon declared, as Kouji looked at him for a moment before realizing that he was that one Gatsumon who had brought him Takuya. For a second, Kouji's glare hardened as he realized another thing.  
  
"You've been spying on us!" Kouji declared angrily, and the Gatsomon shrunk back a little into the shadows, which let Kouji know that he was right.  
  
"Why have you been spying on us?" Kouji demanded, wanting to know what the Gatsomon was up too.  
  
"I...only want to help." It replied, and Kouji sighed and shook his head. It was too dangerous...he didn't even think that the Gatsomon could help him this time. For what he had to do now he was on his own...he was going to have to track down those Digimon who now had his friends, and he was sure when he did that, he'd also find Grumblemon shortly thereafter.  
  
"I can help." The Gatsomon declared, his own red eyes glaring back straight into Kouji's as he held his rock head up high. Kouji just snorted though, as he heard the sound of struggling and turned to look to see Takuya being brought out of the inn and taken away, his anger about their situation returning as he watched from his hiding spot. He had thought that they'd left by now...and it only hardened his resolve to track his friends down and eventually free them from the enemy...broken ribs or no.  
  
"You can't help me...you'll only get in the way. This is something I have to do myself!" Kouji hissed, not wanting to chance getting caught. He strained to hear what was going on as he waved a hand quickly at Gatsomon, and the Digimon hushed for a moment as he realized Kouji's intentions. The dark haired teen held his breath as he overheard at least a little bit of what was going on by the inn.  
  
"Your stubbornness isn't helping you, you should know that...nor is it helping your special little friend who has seemed to have avoided our clutches for the moment. When we find him, he'll be punished..." The snake like Digimon hissed as Veggiemon dragged Takuya along, and laughed a harsh, evil laugh.  
  
"This one's gonna get punished at the moment for not talking...it's obvious that he knows where his 'friend' is, and yet he thinks he's protecting the brat by not telling us where he is...?" Veggiemon's voice faded away as the two Digimon crept away into the night. Kouji knew that he'd have to move now or he'd loose sight of Takuya. And that was not what he wanted to have happen.  
  
"I can! I know I can because I know where it is!" This statement caused Kouji to turn back around to face the Gatsomon as he raised a questioning eyebrow.  
  
"Know where what is?" Kouji hissed, and again the Gatsomon shrunk back. He had thought that Kouji was nice when he had first met him, but now...now he wasn't too sure.  
  
"I...I know where the spirit is that you're looking for. But maybe I don't want to help you now." Kouji groaned and waved the Digimon away as he turned back to watch as Takuya disappeared with the other evil Digimon.  
  
"Fine, then don't help me...I could care less. I've got to go now, cause if I don't then I'm going to loose their trail." The Gatsumon let out something of a snort as Kouji stayed hidden within the shadows as he crept slowly along the village, catching up with the struggling Takuya and staying well hidden, keeping Takuya and the other evil Digimon with him well within his eyesight, keeping his left arm around his ribs as he grimaced with the pain. He knew they'd have to be bound in order for them to heal, but at the moment he didn't have the time to do that.  
  
Kouji knew that the Gatsomon had chosen to follow him, and at that point in time he really didn't give a damn. The only thing-person-that was on his mind now was Takuya. He'd just found the brunette again and there was no way in hell that he was going to loose him this time. This time he was going to stay hot on those other Digimon's tracks...and hopefully when the time was right get Takuya away-before they met up with Grumblemon. Kouji knew that Grumblemon was powerful...even more powerful then his human spirit...especially with the condition that Kouji was in now, he doubted that he'd even have a chance against the evil Hybrid. He had the feeling that if he wanted to beat him-and Kouji did want to beat him-badly...then he was going to have to find that Beast Spirit Bokomon had been talking about. And if the Gatsomon knew where it was, and wanted to follow him...then by all means.  
  
They traveled out of the village and were heading back into the mountains, and Kouji frowned. Why hadn't they caught up with any of the others yet? He had chosen to stay a little behind...mainly because his ribs and chest were bothering him so much, but he also didn't want to risk having himself be found out. Didn't those Digimon who now had Takuya say that they had the other's as well? And if that was true, why had he only so far seen Takuya and not the others?  
  
Just as Kouji was thinking this, a clearing came into view and they reached the spot where the other's were. He saw Izumi glaring fiercely at a Lizard type Digimon to her right who held three Detectors in his hands...three Detectors that belonged to her, Junpei, and Tomoki. Kouji recognized the colors all too well. But when the Veggiemon came up and dumped Takuya unceremoniously onto the ground, and tossed Takuya's own Detector toward the Lizard Digimon, it caught it swiftly-and Kouji's blood boiled. Without his Detector, Takuya would have no way of protecting himself...and as Kouji got a better look at what was going on, he realized that Takuya also didn't have his sling either, an groaned softly. How was his shoulder supposed to heal if he didn't wear the blasted sling?  
  
A small voice told him in the back of his mind, but Kouji ignored it. Now was not the time for that.  
  
As the Gatsomon caught up with him, he remained quiet next to his side. Bokomon and Neemon were with the other's as well, caged up in a cage that barely fit the two of them-and Bokomon was complaining rather bitterly at the whole ordeal of having to be so close to Neemon...declaring that the other Digimon had yet to bathe. The two retorted back and forth, until the snake-like Digimon (who Gatsomon told him was called Viperomon) with the Digi Destined told them roughly to shut up. And he said it so fiercely and menacingly that they actually did shut up.  
  
Takuya was glaring at any of the Digimon surrounding them (besides Bokomon and Neemon) who caught his eyes, and Izumi looked defiant, while Junpei was being rather rebellious. Tomoki had his own fair share of things to say as well and suddenly the whole camp was in argument. At this point in time, Kouji accidentally slipped in his hiding spot as his foot had found a patch of mud from the rain a few nights ago, and cursed softly at his stupidity as he whimpered and cradled his chest with his arms. Realizing what he had done all too late, held his breath and hoped that no one had heard him throughout all the arguing that was going on. While none of the other Digimon heard him, Izumi's head snapped up as she looked around for a moment, and then squinted in Kouji's direction, her eyes opening wide. But Kouji placed a finger to his lips, and she gave a very slight nod to the head, understanding that she was not to give away his position. But when Takuya was kicked roughly in the ribs for being too rebellious, it took all of Kouji's will not to go running out and giving himself away.  
  
He commanded himself, and took a deep breath as he stayed where he was, wondering what on earth the Digimon were waiting for. Until another Lizard like Digimon (known as Lizarmon) came flouncing through the foliage around the mountain range, declaring that they were to take the 'prisoners' to Shallow Point.  
  
Takuya, Izumi, Junpei, and Tomoki were pulled roughly to their feet, having been tied by the Veggiemon's vines, and led away. When Kouji was sure they were gone, he stepped out of his hiding spot and growled darkly as he looked into the Gatsomon's direction.  
  
"Do you know where that is?" Kouji demanded softly, and the Gatsomon sighed and nodded his head, looking forlorn...and yet, unless if Kouji was mistaken, he was also looking a bit excited as well.  
  
"Yes, I know where that is. It's down by the water...they've got to hike most of the night to get there. I can show you and trust me, you'll want to go there." It was after he said that that Kouji realized the Digimon wore a red jewel around his neck, and when he asked him about it, the Digimon just brushed the question off, saying it was none of his business. But a part of Kouji felt like it was his business however, the pain in his ribs forgotten again for the meanwhile.  
  
"Alright, then if you know the way to Shallow Point, lead on...I'll be more then happy to follow." Kouji grunted as the Digimon did what it was told and led the way and Kouji followed him. The trail was steep at one point, and it started to rain, making it slippery. There were a few times where Kouji lost his footing, and banged his knees and elbow more times then he cared for groaning at the pain at one point, that caused him so much trouble he actually had to stop and rest, much as he hated to admit the fact that he needed it. Finally, when he was fed up with the long hike, he saw the water from a distance...but saw no signs of the Digimon who held his friends and Takuya captive.  
  
"Where are they?" Kouji murmured, surveying the area his breathing heavy from the hike and the pain he felt, and was surprised when he didn't get an answer back. He looked around with a groan-realizing that the Gatsomon was not there with him anymore. Somehow he'd managed to slip away.  
  
"Damn." He muttered, heading straight into the direction where he could see the water. The Gatsomon had said that Shallow Point was by the water. So Kouji could only follow the trail that led directly too it.  
  
When he got to a ledge though, he felt dismayed when he didn't find much...only when he heard someone talking angrily-and that someone sounding like Takuya-did he kneel to look over the cliff, making sure that he wasn't caught in the process of doing it. He gasped as he saw his friends hanging from one of the high ledges of the cliff down below, their bodies dangling in the air as their arms were tied above their heads, keeping them in position. Takuya was the last one being tied and was putting up quite a fight...he hadn't joined the others yet. Kouji winced at their rough treatment as Takuya protested and the others shouted up insults of fury at the Digimon for putting them there. It was then that Kouji realized that they looked rather beaten...bruises and cuts all over them. Kouji narrowed his eyes and his left hand closed tightly into a fist when he saw Takuya finally tied and ready to go...and then was thrown off the ledge, allowing him to fall a bit before the rope halted his fall.  
  
As it did, he heard Takuya yelp in pain and he winced, then got angry again as he heard the Digimon laugh and start to leave, declaring that they were history once Grumblemon got to them.  
  
Using his Detector to make sure the Digimon were gone, Kouji looked down to his friends, amazed at the height.  
  
He thought, gulping a little as he felt small beads of sweat trickle down his neck. He wasn't a big fan of them...but Takuya was down there. Kouji felt himself start to shake a little, as he pulled his head back up, and bit his lower lip wondering what to do. None of the other's knew that he was afraid of heights...and he sure as hell wasn't about to let them know now.  
  
"Afraid?" A smug voice asked as Kouji whirled around in a fighting stance to see that the Gatsomon who had deserted him earlier was back. Kouji growled darkly at him...but by now, the Digimon was used to it and only shrugged.  
  
"I saw that look...it was a look of fear...someone here doesn't like heights, and it's sure not me." Kouji sighed and shook his head...little did that Digimon-who had rocks for brains-know, that Kouji had every right to be afraid of heights.  
  
"You don't know why...nor am I willing to tell you...just tell me this-is there a way to save my friends that doesn't involve climbing down a mountainside?" The Gatsomon looked thoughtful at Kouji's question for a moment, before finally shrugging, giving Kouji a nonchalant look and Kouji threw his arms up in the air in frustration.  
  
"You know, you're not really that much of a help! You said you wanted to help me...so help already! All I want is a way down." For a few seconds, the Gatsomon made no effort to reply-in fact to Kouji it looked as though it was ready to turn around and walk away from him.  
  
"A couple of miles away from here, there are some stone structures created by Digimon long ago. All I know is that by taking this gem that I have and placing it in the right eye of the main structure, it'll give you great power. A part of me is telling me to give it to you and let you take it-but a part of me isn't." Kouji eyed the little Digimon, wondering what it was getting at. Luckily for him, the Gatsomon decided to explain itself.  
  
"I've always wanted a way to help my people...and I always thought that this gem would one day allow me to become a hero and protect them from the Dark Warriors tirades upon our city...our people live in fear-have for many years. The first peace we have had was when you and the other Digi Destined appeared. I thought that by following you I'd be able to find the stone structure that our history books have talked about so much. I did find it...but now I'm having second thoughts. I believe that that power isn't meant to be for me, but for you. And I think that you're supposed to have this...not me." With that, the Gatsomon took the red gem off the chain from where it was hanging from around his neck and gave it to Kouji.  
  
"I trust you'll find it in enough time to save your friends." He murmured, and Kouji nodded feeling a little relieved that he didn't have to climb down after all. Maybe once he had his Beast Spirit, he'd figure out a way to save his friends.  
  
"I will...and thank you...I appreciate what you've done...do me one more favor?" The Gatsomon sighed and nodded.  
  
"Keep an eye on my friends down there...and come and get me if any trouble arises...I shouldn't be gone very long." The Digimon was about to protest that a couple of miles would take him longer then he thought, and Kouji knew that he probably wouldn't be able to make it in the timing he wanted with the way he was feeling currently. But when he brought out his Detector and Spirit Evolved into Lobomon, the Gatsomon thought better of it, and just nodded his head as Kouji took off.  
  
"Good luck..." He whispered, and continued to keep an eye on Kouji's friends until he returned.  
  
~***~  
  
The way to the stone structure that the Gatsomon had told him didn't seem too long at all. Kouji DeDigivolved and looked around his surroundings in awe-feeling a little more energized as being Lobomon had granted him a bit more energy then what he had started out with-and his hand reached up to the red gem that he'd placed around his neck with the chain the Gatsomon kept in on, so he wouldn't loose it. There were wild vines growing everywhere, and the grass was as tall as his knees. As he walked toward the stone structures, that looked like faces now that Kouji got a much better look a them, he had to swat away several of the tall grasses, some nearly being as tall as he was. In a way it was a good thing- it kept him hidden.  
  
For a few minutes all Kouji did was look. Indeed it was a truly gorgeous place...the facial like stone structures were jagged, and yet one could still see the eyes, nose, and mouth carved into them...they were huge too. Kouji gulped as he finally got a look at one of them-there were four altogether, with their being two in the front and two in the back, spaced out so one could actually walk around them. The one he wanted was on the right in the back...it was missing an eye...and Kouji had the feeling that he had to actually get up there and put the gem in it's eye...an eye for an eye. Kouji smirked at this, but then faltered as he realized that getting up there actually meant that he'd have to climb up...and he wasn't sure if he was in the condition to do that at all, even with the little bit of extra energy that Lobomon had left him.  
  
Shaking off his fear, he headed over to where the stone structure was looking up at it for a moment, before he allowed his fear to overtake him and he groaned, falling to his knees and putting his face into his hands.  
  
"I can't do this." He mumbled, looking up at the structure and wondering why in the hell he thought that this would be easier then the climb down that it would've taken to just release his friends...he thought that maybe, just maybe if he had Takuya there with him and cheering him on, that he might've been able to do it. But there was no way in hell...  
  
His thoughts were interrupted by a rustling in the grass, and Kouji looked up startled as he saw a familiar figure leaping from rock to rock with an unsteady grace so it wouldn't have to travel through the grass.  
  
"Me's a in the mood for a snack...me's a think that the brats who've got the Spirits will provide that tasty snack!"  
  
Grumblemon.  
  
The thought flashed through Kouji's mind, as he debated what to do. He knew that Grumblemon was too powerful for his own human spirit...and after what he had heard had happened with Takuya and the others when he had been gone, he also knew he might not be able to defeat him by himself-no matter how badly he wanted to do so. But therein lay the fact that he was heading for Takuya...and Kouji wasn't about to let his koi get anymore hurt then he suspected he already was.  
  
Kouji thought bitterly, and with that fueling his anger, he made up his mind as he forgot about his beast spirit and DigiVolved into Lobomon, the wind that appeared as he did so causing Grumblemon to loose his stability on one of the rocks that he had just landed on....and when he fell backwards, he caught a glimpse of Lobomon and smirked, cracking his knuckles for a moment as he stood up.  
  
"So...you a wanting a fight with me? Me's a remembering the last time you fought! Not very good if me thinks so myself!" Grumblemon growled, but Kouji didn't flinch or back down. He needed to buy the other's at least some time.  
  
"If it's my friends you want, you're going to have to get through me first!" Lobomon howled, and Grumblemon grinned nastily and nodded as he took up his club, giving it a few practice swings.  
  
"Me's a ready whenever you's is! And something tells me that you're not ready, and you're not going to beat me! I'll have your spirit as a first snack!" Lobomon glared, and then the two Digimon charged at each other. Lobomon got in a few good hits before Grumblemon clubbed him hard, causing him to slam into one of the stone structure's. He fell to the ground, feeling out of it for a few minutes before Grumblemon came dashing toward him again, and Lobomon knew that he had to move with speed-and fast.  
  
"Lobo Kindo!" Using an attack to try to help him gain some leverage with the fight, he hit Grumblemon squarely in the shoulder, causing the evil Digimon to fall back for awhile, grunting in protest before he glared at Lobomon, who had decided to hide for a moment behind one of the statue's, taking it for a refugee as he thought about the best way to defeat-or distract-Grumblemon. But what he heard Grumblemon declare next, caused his breathing to hitch, and his courage to slightly lessen.  
  
"What you don't know, is that if me's a go and destroy these stones, Beast Spirit be no more! All four stones must be in contact! And then wolfie no longer see the one he loves!" Kouji felt himself biting down on his lower lip (and figured that it was starting to become a habit) as his hands balled into fists. He couldn't let Grumblemon do that...he needed his Beast Spirit. But...yet...he knew he also needed Takuya more. Much more.  
  
"If you lay a hand on Takuya again, I'll make sure that your data is history!" Kouji growled, still hiding and sidestepping in the shadows, buying his time.  
  
"Oh...so now me know the best way to get at wolfie boy! His little...friend." Kouji glared to where he knew Grumblemon was, and took a deep breath as he got out his Kendo sticks again, lighting them up with his power as he charged forth...  
  
~***~  
  
"This is a stupid, stupid thing for me to do." Gatsomon found himself muttering as he was climbing down the rock face to where Kouji's friends were hanging, quiet now that the evil Digimon who had captured them from the village were gone. They were silent, lost in their own thoughts...Takuya being the only one who still really struggled against the rope that bound his arms and hands tightly together, even though they'd already bitten into his skin, causing it to bleed slowly. At the moment though, Takuya could care less.  
  
It was during his struggling attempt (at one point in which Junpei had told him that the more he struggled the more he probably made the knots tighter so it was helpless to do so) that he saw the Gatsomon out of the corner of his eyes, and they opened wide with surprise. What was the Gatsomon doing here? Had he been following him and Kouji that whole entire time they'd been travelling from the last Digimon village?  
  
The Gatsomon was agile in his climbing abilities and was soon standing on the ledge that the others were hanging off of, giving a small sigh.  
  
I can't believe I'm doing this...but hey, if I can't be the hero by making myself stronger with that spirit, then I can at least say that I helped the Digi Destined...right? Gatsomon thought as he tugged a bit on Takuya's rope, letting the brunette know that someone was up there, and dark brown eyes focused on red ones.  
  
"What're you doing here?" Takuya asked sharply, causing the other three Digi Destined to look up, fear-and maybe a bit of relief within their eyes as they saw that someone was up there-someone who might help them.  
  
"Your friend's a bit...how do we say...occupied at the moment? And he told me to keep an eye on you...but I just don't see the sense in letting you all hang here when you could be helping him." Takuya's stomach twisted for a moment, and he knew that the Gatsomon was talking about Kouji. He craned his neck a bit more so he could actually see the Digimon while he was talking to him.  
  
"Kouji?!? Kouji's here?!?" He gasped and the Gatsomon nodded, confirming what Takuya knew-and what Izumi already knew.  
  
"Are you going to help us, or what?" Junpei hollered, getting fairly sick of just hanging around and doing nothing. The Gatsomon nodded and started pulling Takuya up. Once the brunette was up, Gatsomon undid his bindings, and Takuya groaned in a bit of pain as the circulation eased it's way back through his bleeding wrists.  
  
"Let's get the others up." It was an order-not a question, as Takuya reached down and grabbed a hold of Tomoki's rope, but the Digimon stopped him by laying one of his rock hands on his shoulder and shook his head lightly.  
  
"No...I'll finish here, you've got to get to Kouji. I'm not sure if he can finish the task that was appointed to him without your help. It's courage he needs, and you'll be able to give it to him." Takuya looked back down at his friends, and with a nod of understanding from Izumi, he nodded back at the Gatsomon and dashed over to the rock wall, having retrieved his Digivice from where the evil Digimon who had taken them had left it in a bag made of netting and tied to one of the rocks.  
  
He thought and then Digivolved, leaving the other's behind as he scoured the wall easily and leapt over it, the pain in his arms and shoulder forgotten as he headed off in the direction that he somehow seemed to know that Kouji had gone off in. It was weird how he knew...but at the moment, all that really mattered was getting back to Kouji.  
  
~***~  
  
It happened so quickly that Kouji couldn't move fast enough, and couldn't think properly. He felt Grumblemon's club smash hard, right into his rib cage...and he gasped in pain, finding it too hard to breathe. When he hit the wall for what felt like the millionth time (though in truth it had really only been the fourth or fifth maybe, but Grumblemon-who had seemed to have some strength behind him, had thrown him harder and harder each time) Kouji felt weary. He stayed against the wall, his back wedged in, his body sore...and found that he couldn't move even if he wanted too. He closed his eyes for a moment, regaining his strength...and wished he hadn't done so. For the moment he did, Grumblemon seemed to...change. And it was there that Kouji witnessed the Evil Hybrids Beast Spirit Evolution for the first time, and wished that he hadn't. The others had seen him do it before...from what Takuya knew of what Junpei, Izumi, and Tomoki had told him while he had been separated from the brunette. But Kouji had yet to see it...and now he was. In the state that he was in, Kouji was positive, that he could not defeat Grumblemon as Gigasmon while he was still in his human spirit form.  
  
"It's time for me to have you's a spirit now..." Gigasmon declared, Kouji cringed and tried to move from where he was stuck, but he found that he didn't have the energy...and as he thought this, he closed his eyes tiredly and groaned as he cradled his ribs with his arms. His data appeared, causing him to groan again. This was not how he had wanted his day to end...  
  
"Good...it's all-" Before Gigasmon could say anymore, Kouji heard a voice that he did not expect to hear-that of Agunimon's. He managed to snap his eyes open to see Takuya, in his human spirit form, standing before him, and he managed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Mine?" Gigasmon finished, turning around with an angry, astonished look as he saw Agunimon shake his head.  
  
"Not if I can help it...you're not going to touch him again!" Takuya felt angry at seeing Kouji hurt this way...and he was going to keep Gigasmon busy until Kouji's data restored itself.  
  
"Takuya..." Kouji whispered, as Agunimon led Gigasmon enough out of the way so that he wouldn't be able to reach Kouji's data as it swarmed around him. Then, before Kouji knew it, he was no longer Lobomon, but himself again and he cried out in pain as he fell from the rock that he had been smashed into to the ground, watching as Agunimon took on Gigasmon...though from the way things look, Kouji doubted that Agunimon would be able to last much longer then what he had...they needed help...now.  
  
Standing up and clutching his right shoulder with his left hand, he gritted his teeth. His right hand still had his Detector in it, though he knew that if he Digivolved now, he'd still be in a weakened enough state for Gigasmon to do him in. As much as he hated admitting defeat...  
  
"Lightning Blitz!" The attack happened right as Agunimon took another pummel from Gigasmon that sent him flying to the ground, taking refugee in the tall grasses. Kouji saw his koi's data appear, and looked frantically to his right where the attack had been called from...relieved to see Junpei, Izumi, and Tomoki all there in their human spirit forms. If they could distract Gigasmon long enough, he'd be able to get to Takuya and get him away from Gigasmon in enough time so that Gigasmon wouldn't be able to steal his spirit.  
  
"Snow Bomber!"  
  
"Tornado kick!" Both Kumamon and Kazemon attacked at the same time...and for a few seconds, Gigasmon seemed baffled by their attacks, and Kouji narrowed his eyes, a thought coming to him.  
  
"JUNPEI!" He hollered, and Beetlemon turned to him with a questioning look in his eyes.  
  
"Attack Gigasmon together, with all three of your attacks! Maybe it'll help slow him down a bit!" Beetlemon nodded slowly, understanding what Kouji was saying.  
  
"Alright...good idea! But get to Takuya! Now!" Kouji gave him a brief nod as he bolted to where Takuya still lay, groaning as his data slowly disappeared. By the time it was gone-back into his red and black DigiVice, Kouji was next to him, on his knees his breathing harsh...suddenly all he wanted to do was pass out as a nauseating feeling came over him.  
  
"Takuya? You okay?" He breathed out, the brunette gave him a small grin and shook his head.  
  
"I should be asking you that question...are you okay? And why am I even asking when you don't even look okay!" Kouji sighed and nodded as he reached out a hand to help Takuya stand. But as soon as Takuya's hand gripped his own, Kouji found his mind reeling as he stifled a groan and started falling into Takuya's arms. Takuya, seeing this, caught him, making it so that he only fell a little, and then managed to stand on his own, bringing his koi with him. He was a little alarmed at how suddenly pale and tired Kouji looked.  
  
"You took quite a beating out there...I'm sorry." Takuya glanced at Kouji and shook his head again-clearing the dizziness he had felt from earlier away, but the pain was still there. Takuya thought it was from the battle with Grumblemon now Gigasmon, and Kouji sighed. Should he tell Takuya he had been hurt much earlier? He decided against it, it'd only get Takuya upset.  
  
"No...you shouldn't be sorry. You were hurt...you are still hurt..." Kouji replied, surprising himself when his voice cracked with the strain he was feeling. Takuya's dark brown eyes were looking at Kouji's bleeding shoulder-which he was still clutching with his left hand-and down to where his right arm was protecting his busted ribs.  
  
"It's nothing...just...a scratch." But as Kouji said that, he knew that it was quite a bit more then just a scratch-but they had no time to mend wounds now. He noted that Takuya had a couple of bruises forming on his right temple, that his wrists were bleeding from where the rope had cut into them.  
  
"How's your shoulder?" Kouji asked, and Takuya shrugged.  
  
"Not as bad as it could be...hey, what's that?" The goggle-wearing brunette was now fingering the red gem that Kouji wore around his neck, and Kouji's eyes widened. He had almost forgotten about his Beast Spirit, with all that was going on.  
  
"It's...something the Gatsomon with us gave me...he said it'd help me get my Beast Spirit." Takuya's eyes shifted away a bit, as the brunette licked his dry lips.  
  
"So does he think that it'll help us with Gigasmon over there?" He thumbed in the direction of where their other three teammates were actually doing not so bad with the evil hybrid. Teamwork it seemed, was the key to their success-for the moment anyway.  
  
"He thinks so."  
  
"Then let's get it already!" Takuya responded enthusiastically, but Kouji stopped him with a shake of his head.  
  
"I...don't know if that's going to happen...or not...Takuya...it involves climbing." Kouji felt his mouth go dry as he thought of the appointed task at hand and suddenly felt like he wanted to throw up-though he wasn't sure if it was because of the pain or his fear. He didn't want to tell Takuya about his fear...but at the moment it looked like he had no choice.  
  
"And there's something wrong with that?" Takuya asked, eyebrows raised as Kouji slowly nodded his head.  
  
"I...in order for me to get my Beast Spirit, apparently I've got to put this gem in that missing eyepiece of that stone face-like structure over there...but it's high...almost too high...and it requires climbing...and...Takuya...I'mafraidofheights." He said it so quickly that he knew Takuya didn't catch it-or so he thought that he didn't catch it. But he must've because he saw Takuya frown and glanced at the structure with the missing eye. And then he glanced back at Kouji and just shrugged and gave him a smile.  
  
"Then we're just going to have to help you along the way, aren't we?" Kouji closed his eyes at this and took a deep breath, knowing that Takuya didn't know how bad his fear of heights really was. All those other times he'd been filled with adrenaline...but now...he wasn't too sure. If he couldn't climb down that ledge to save his friends earlier...what made Takuya think that he could climb that?  
  
But before he could answer that question however, Takuya was pulling him toward the stone structure giving him a boost up so he could start the climb. Kouji started, shakily...telling himself not to look down, not believing that he was doing what he was doing. He felt lightheaded and gritted his teeth against the pain he felt, hoping that he wasn't going to fall off...  
  
Then suddenly there was a hand around his own, and as he looked over, he saw Takuya grinning wryly at him as he helped the hand of Kouji's that he was holding, find the next hold so he could pull himself up more.  
  
"We'll do it together if we have to. I'm not letting you fail." Shocked, Kouji wasn't sure what to say. His body, still trembling with fear and exhaustion, continued to pull itself up with Takuya's help. Takuya was remembering something that the Gatsomon had told him after he'd pulled him up from where he had been hanging on the ledge with his other teammates.  
  
Maybe this was what the Gatsomon had been talking about...maybe he had known that Kouji had a fear he couldn't concur by himself. And while it looked like maybe Kouji might not concur that fear today, at least Takuya would be able to help him through his fear.  
  
Before the two boys knew it, they were at the eye, and Takuya helped Kouji balance himself as they took the gem from around his neck, and gently placed it into the eye.  
  
At one point during his battle with the other Digi Destined, Gigasmon realized what was going to happen as he saw the two teens reach the top...and growled.  
  
"Me's a not letting you get it that easily!" He shouted, and gathering his strength, tried to take down all three Digi Destined who had been-and still were-attacking him. It didn't quite work the way he wanted his attack to go...Beetlemon was down, and didn't look like he was getting up anytime real soon, though his data did not appear as Gigasmon had hoped it would. He managed to club Kumamon with his Shake Eye Break attack...and got some results. His eyes opened wide with pleasure as he saw the Digimon's spirit appear, a twinkle in his eyes as he headed straight for it- and then Kazemon had to get in the way, showing Kumamon out of his reach. In turn, Gigasmon glared at her, and then smirked...she was already weak enough-one good whack out to do it...  
  
Kouji and Takuya slid down from the structure, Takuya managing to land on his feet, Kouji landing firmly on his back, the harsh impact jarring his ribs and causing him to loose his breath altogether as a red haze of pain filtered into his vision while his mind threatened to send him spiraling into unconsciousness.  
  
Takuya, upon noticing the dramatic change in his koi immediately crossed the short distance to the dark haired teen and fell to his knees, calling out Kouji's name when he saw his koi's eyes closed tightly his face masked in pain and his breathing harsh.  
  
"Kouji? Kouji, what's wrong...answer me!" Had Kouji been more injured then Takuya had known? He swore softly and took Kouji's hands into his own...surprised at how cold they felt as he rubbed them to try and get them warm again.  
  
"Kouji...I know you're tired and when this is over I promise, promise you, that you can rest. But now is not the time..." Takuya murmured, using one of his trembling hands to gently swipe away the bits of hair that had fallen from Kouji's ponytail and into his face. At this point Takuya frowned...was it his imagination or did Kouji feel hot to the touch? He felt his koi's forehead again and was startled when Kouji opened his dark blue gray eyes, only to find that they held nothing but pain.  
  
"Takuya...it hurts..." Kouji whimpered, unable to withstand what he had put his body through anymore, he closed his eyes again as Takuya pulled him up into a sitting position and Kouji cried out in pain.  
  
"Kouji? What is it, did I hurt you?" When Takuya saw the tears start to fall, he immediately knew that something had to be wrong.  
  
"Kouji, you've got to tell me what's the matter!" He hollered, and Kouji opened his teary eyes-glazed in pain, and nodded slightly in understanding.  
  
"Ribs..." He managed to croak out as Takuya's still trembling hands gently lifted Kouji's shirt and he gasped in dismay. His rib cage and part of Kouji's chest were covered in black and blue marks. Closing his own eyes for a moment, Takuya sighed and gently lowered Kouji's shirt back down.  
  
"Kouji...I think that some of them might be broken...even cracked...but I'm not a doctor." Kouji felt himself nod, and then forced himself to open his eyes as he heard crackling noises. The gem was coming to life, the stone figures were moving. But he had to turn away from the awesome sight when both he and Takuya heard a scream of terror, and both of them knew it belonged to Kazemon.  
  
"Me's a not full! I'm gonna get all you brat's spirits!" With that said from Gigasmon, the two saw Kazemon get hit, protecting an injured Kumamon, and Kazemon rapidly turned back into an injured Izumi-falling to the ground. Both Takuya's and Kouji's hatred turned toward Gigasmon, the look of triumph on his face brighter then before as he glanced around to his newest opponent-or snack as he preferred to call it. Kumamon had turned back into Tomoki...lying on the ground without much energy as he watched with a horrified look in his eyes while Izumi had her spirit taken away. Junpei was struggling to stand up-also having De-Digivolved, and started heading toward Izumi's unconscious figure.  
  
"I've got to distract him!" Takuya whispered standing up and accidentally letting go of Kouji as he whimpered while he fell to the ground. Takuya grabbed his Detector and he twirled it around in his hand, but was stopped when he heard a soft noise behind him, and gasped when he saw Kouji struggling to get to his feet, despite the pain it must've caused him. When he was finally up and on his feet, Kouji put a hand on Takukya's shoulder (for support mainly as his body swayed a bit, feeling weary) and squeezed it tightly to restrain him. Takuya looked at him, as Kouji shook his head and saw the look of determination on his koi's blue gray eyes...and understood. As much as he hated it, and hated seeing Kouji this way, he understood perfectly.  
  
"This is my fight Takuya...I don't want you or anyone else getting hurt anymore." Kouji sounded confident...more so then he had just recently...and as he turned around, Takuya turned with him and saw Kouji's Beast Spirit hovering in mid air in the center of the four stone structures that had moved slightly for Kouji to claim the hovering spirit it as his own. Takuya glanced back at Gigasmon, who saw them and started to bound right toward their location...an evil gleam in his eye as he hungered for more data-more precisely, Kouji's new Beast Spirit which still hovered in front of them. Takuya took a breath, and nodded at Kouji who had glanced back at him for a second as he got out his blue and white DigiVice, a look that held pain in his blue gray eyes, and yet a look that also told Takuya that he was looking for support...confidence...security...and almost as though he was also looking for approval in a way.  
  
"Go for it...but you'd better hurry, cause here he comes...just know that I love you." Kouji grinned weakly, and nodded as he turned fully away from Takuya and held out his Detector as he felt his Beast Spirit come rushing toward him...and then he knew no more...  
  
TBC  
  
AN 2- OK...::cowers and hides from glaring audience:: I know, I know, I'm a horrible, awful, evil person for leaving it there! And if you guys see any mistakes in there, let me know so I can eventually fix them because I added in some stuff before I actually put up the chapter, and I went over it a few different times myself, so I don't think that there are any mistakes.BUT.. Anyway, if you all read the first author's note above, you'll know why I had to leave it there! So help me out! PLEASE? The sooner I get the information I need, the sooner I can plug it into the next chapter I'm working on and I can get it out for you guys to enjoy! ^-~ Hope you guys liked the last two chapters though...cause I certainly had fun with them, and I actually think that these past couple of chapters are my best yet...but I'll let you guys be the judges!!! Hope you enjoyed it! 


	15. Uncontrollable

Disclaimer: Since this fic contains 100% of the way Takouji, then obviously I don't own Digimon...:P  
  
Author's Notes: Yippee! Big hugs to Dragi and Kimra Dattei, who were AWESOME readers and reviewers and gave me what I needed to continue on with this fic! Much appreciated you two, thanks bunches! *^-^* I am soooo sorry with how long it took me to get this chapter done...I had most of it written up much, much earlier at one point, and then somehow, it got deleted and I couldn't pull it back up. So I had to remember what it was that I had plotted for this chapter, and rewrite the whole thing-save for the ending of it, which I had typed up separately and saved on another document. BUT...it's actually LONGER then what the last one was, so...since I don't have much else to say in this, enjoy it! ^-~  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Warning: clears throat Once again this authoress is not responsible for anyone who continues on who does not like the thought of Takuya and Kouji being happily together as a couple...if you don't like slash/yaoi then I suggest you scoot away now because then this isn't the fic (and if you've gotten this far already I'm assuming now that most of my readers are 100% A OK with that kind of stuff...:P)  
  
Chapter Summary: Hmmm...none this time around...I'm just going to let you guys read on and find out for yourselves cause it's too good to give away and I feel like being evil tonight. evil laughter and lightning follow  
  
Different Journeys  
  
Author: Angel Spirit  
  
Chapter 16: Uncontrollable  
  
Takuya could not really describe exactly what had happened to him the moment Kouji Beast Spirit Evolved into KendoGarurumon...he felt strange...cold...almost like he'd lost something.  
  
He wasn't sure when it was he'd fallen to his knees and clutches his chest in pain, he only knew it had happened when Tomoki had ran up to him, after seeing him fall and grabbed him by the shoulders...shaking him and making sure that he was alright. After blinking rapidly a few times, Takuya watched in silence as Kouji and Gigasmon battled it out.  
  
"Takuya...answer me...please?!? JUNPEI!" Junpei, who was helping Izumi up glanced over in the direction he was being called at and frowned when he saw the way that Takuya was looking. He glanced over at Izumi, who looked weary, but was fighting him off to stand on her own without his help.  
  
"You sure you alright Z?" He asked, using the nickname that he'd given her...he wasn't sure how he'd managed to think of that one, but somehow it just felt right to use it. And besides, Izumi did not seem to mind. She shrugged him off one last time and nodded, wrapping her arms around herself.  
  
"Yeah...I'm...fine, I'll be fine...go check on Takuya, I'll be right there..." Izumi's voice trailed off and Junpei nodded as he headed over to where Tomoki was with Takuya, glad to see that at least the other brunette was conscious. He looked strange though...not like he was in pain or in shock, but...Junpei couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong.  
  
"Takuya?" Junpei finally managed to get the goggle-wearing brunette to look at him, and that was when Takuya shook his head and started to shiver slightly.  
  
"Junpei...what's wrong with him?!?" Tomoki asked fearfully, and Junpei frowned and shook his head not knowing the best way to answer that. If he had to answer that, he'd tell Tomoki that Takuya was in shock for some reason...but he'd been fine before Kouji had Beast Spirit Evolved- which, as Junpei looked in the direction where the battle was taking place, he had to admit, that the Beast Spirit of Light looked pretty wicked-and he only hoped that he'd get his own soon...and not be last like he was with the Human Spirit's.  
  
"Takuya...what's wrong with him Junpei?" Izumi murmured softly as she knelt next to them, looking worried.  
  
"I don't know, I'm not sure...he was fine a minute ago till' Kouji did that Spirit Evolution thing..." Junpei's mind wanted to wander to where the battle was taking place...in all honesty he wanted to see how the Beast Spirit's could fight. But he also knew that he was the only one who still remained fairly calm in this situation at the moment.  
  
"I think he's gone into shock or something, I don't know...Takuya...dude, answer us please? You're scaring Tomoki..." Junpei knew that Takuya had soft heart for the youngest Digi Destined, mainly because he had his own little brother at home. Takuya blinked at this, and sighed-almost painfully.  
  
"I can't...feel him anymore...it's like he's...gone. It hurts..." Takuya whimpered softly, and the other three looked at each other in concern, realization dawning on them, and Izumi took a small breath, letting it out as she realized exactly what was going on.  
  
"When Kouji Beast Spirit Evolved...something happened...so is that really Kouji still fighting or something else in his place? Oh I wish that Bokomon was here to explain this to us!" She cried out in frustration as she reached out a hand and gently squeezed Takuya's shoulder.  
  
"It's alright Takuya...I'm sure it is...we'll figure this out..." She murmured, but Takuya shook his head, tears threatening to flow.  
  
"I don't know how to explain this...he's...not here."  
  
"Guys, I think it's time we moved out of the way...NOW!" The others glanced up at Junpei's cry of warning and their eyes grew wide with horror as they saw Kendogarurumon spinning wildly out of control. Not needing a second warning, Izumi dragged Tomoki clear out of the way as she ran up to where the huge stone statues were, they reminded her of those masks she had seen in Italy one day...a vendor had been selling them, and she had thought that they were nothing but creepy. Junpei had grabbed Takuya, carrying him as he ran as he doubted that Takuya could've been able to run on his own, and making it to where Izumi had decided to stay and watch the battle as Kendogarurumon spun back around right in the area they'd been standing in.  
  
"Oh, I want to know what's going so wrong." Izumi whimpered as Tomoki watched fearfully. While he watched though, he sensed that something wasn't quite right-and in the process, figured out why Takuya couldn't feel Kouji anymore.  
  
"He's lost control of it." The other's looked at him with blank stares, and Tomoki sighed, knowing he had to explain himself-he didn't know how he knew, he just knew. It was the only possible explanation as to why Takuya was acting like this, and why he felt like Kouji was no longer there...cause in a way Kouji was probably not there-not if the spirit had taken over.  
  
"Kouji's lost control of his Beast Spirit...if he can't control it, who's to say that he can actually fight against Gigasmon? That would explain why Takuya can't feel him!" Junpei nodded at this, as did Izumi, both looking thoughtful.  
  
"So all Kouji needs to do is gain control of his Beast Spirit...but it's not looking that easy." Suddenly, Junpei didn't really want his Beast Spirit...he didn't want to act like...well, like the way Kendogarurumon was acting now. Sure the Beast Spirit of Light looked awesome...but could he- or Tomoki, or Izumi, even Takuya-handle that incredible power? Junpei didn't know if Gigasmon was reading his mind or not, because the next second he was startled out of his thoughts with Gigasmon sneering down at them, taking advantage of Kouji's current situation.  
  
"You shouldn't take what you can't control! Now wolf boy's gonna watch his friend's die first! Starting with him." Izumi gasped as Gigasmon pointed at Takuya, who looked back up at him wide eyed. He knew fully well that he wasn't able to do any damage to Gigasmon in his own human spirit form...even with the help from the others, he doubted that they'd be able to do hardly any damage, he was so powerful. But that didn't mean that they couldn't give Kouji some time to get control of his spirit...if that's what it was. Takuya found himself standing, pushing Junpei away as he clutched his red and black detector, his eyes burning with determination.  
  
"Yeah...you'll have to fight me first!" He hissed out, clutching his detector tighter. Gigasmon narrowed his eyes, moving in closer...the other's shrank away, but Takuya stood standing as he got ready to spirit evolve...and then gasped as Gigasmon grabbed his arm tightly and brought him up closer to him so they were face to face...the pain in Takuya's wrist that he was holding so bad that it caused him to drop his detector.  
  
"Me thinks you'll be a wonderful snack before I eat wolfie boy..." Takuya pulled at Gigasmon's hand with his other free hand, trying to release himself as he stared up into Gigasmon's eyes and then back down to the ground where his detector now lay. He was not going to give in like this! He was not! Gigasmon wouldn't have him...not if he helped it anyway.  
  
"You know, if this is the way you want to take me, then fine...but you'll just be known for the coward that you are for not fighting me!" Takuya snapped, and Gigasmon laughed.  
  
"You a foolish brat...I'll just save you all trouble of fighting me...you not win last time, you not win now!" He snarled, and while Takuya hated to admit that Gigasmon had a point...well...he had a point.  
  
"Now, want nice, slow painful death...or quick one? Your choice!" Takuya gasped as Gigasmon raised his weapon, prepared to strike him down with all his might. And closed his eyes for the blow...  
  
But it never came.  
  
"YOU WON'T TOUCH HIM!" A voice growled menacingly as Takuya felt more then saw two things happen at once. Something slammed into the back of Gigasmon, and sent Takuya reeling off the edge of the structure, falling toward the ground. He would've hit it, had a great light not managed to catch him, stopping his fall quite suddenly and bringing him slowly and safely to the ground. He landed on both feet.  
  
I'm here now...don't worry, he's mine...and I love you too Takuya Kanbara, too much to see anything more happen to you! Kouji's voice ripped through his mind as he saw Kendogarurumon fighting once more with Gigasmon, their powerful attacks being called out as they ripped out parts of the ground. Takuya's mind reeled...Kouji...he could feel him again. Did that mean that he had gained control of his Beast Spirit? When Takuya looked at KendoGarurumon again, it seemed that way. His eyes weren't glowing that bright white light that they had at first when Kouji had just Beast Spirit Evolved, and now all he saw were their dark blue depths. And relief surged through him.  
  
The battle continued on, Kouji's greatest attack having been his Speed Star attack, the blades sending Gigasmon reeling...but not finishing him. Takuya knew that Kouji was getting tired...he could feel that Kouji was getting tired. While Gigasmon and Kouji had been fighting, he, Izumi, Junpei, and Tomoki had gone out of the sheltered area that Junpei had found to watch the battle...and Takuya was now just realizing how close to the cliff that it was getting too.  
  
He watched with horror in his eyes as KendoGarurumon used his Solar Laser attack, sending a beam straight in between Gigasmon's eyes...temporarily blinding him...causing him to go flailing and fall over the edge. Kendogarurumon let out a roar of triumph...and then the edge cracked, having taken so much weight from the battle. There were two, split seconds where the Beast Spirit of light looked utterly confused- before he realized exactly what was happening to him. But it was far too late. Even too late for Takuya to help him, who'd also realized at the same time what was happening.  
  
"KOUJI! NO!" They couldn't stop what was happening, Takuya fended their other teammates off as they tried to hold him back. All that mattered was that he got to his koi before he fell over that stupid ledge with Gigasmon...Gigasmon deserved it, not Kouji. Not his koi...tears welled up in his eyes as he heard Kouji's very tired voice inside him one more time.  
  
Don't...I'll...be...fine. It murmured, but before Takuya could do anything more, he was slammed out of the way.  
  
"If you don't do something, then I will!" He heard someone shout, their voice sounding very familiar, but Takuya at that right second couldn't quite place it.  
  
He saw the flash of light-meaning that KendoGarurumon had De- Digivolved back into Kouji. All he wanted to do was hold Kouji in his arms then and there...to comfort his hurts, and he knew that Kouji was hurt...maybe even more now then had been before he battled Gigasmon in his beast spirit form. Takuya bit down on his lower lip and ceased his struggles as he saw Kouji trying to pull himself up and he cried out in relief. Kouji, feeling all the energy draining out from his body, gave Takuya a small smile.  
  
"You know...that beast spirit...sure takes a lot out of a guy." He murmured, and Takuya heard himself cry out as Kouji gave a gasp of pain and his grip slipped...  
  
Kouji couldn't believe it...he was falling...and falling fast...Gigasmon had already hit the water, sending a cold spray up to greet Kouji's battle weary figure and he shivered as it touched his skin, warm still from the fight. As soon as he had felt himself start to fall, he felt himself stop. And looked up, hoping beyond hope that it was Takuya who had caught him. At that point in time, that was all he wanted to see, was Takuya's dark brown eyes staring into his own...  
  
But it wasn't meant to be, as his rescuer turned out to be none other then Gatsomon. Kouji frowned a bit-he was glad that he hadn't fallen in after Gigasmon. But he wanted...no...needed Takuya.  
  
"You know...I thought I knew what it meant to be a hero. But you've shown me differently...you stood up to Gigasmon even in the condition you were in after everything that's happened. And I found out that I need your help-and you needed mine. Somehow, I think, that asking for help is what makes you a hero. I doubt that Grumblemon will haunt our village anymore now...how can I ever thank you?" Kouji smirked and slowly winked at the Digimon above him.  
  
"Well...first off, there's one more thing you need to learn about being a hero. Rescue first, and then talk later." Kouji whispered, and the Gatsomon, upon realizing their predicament as Kouji closed his eyes and looked like he was ready to faint any minute, hurried to pull Kouji up back onto solid ground. Kouji wanted nothing more then to be away from the cliff as he felt his weakened body falling to the ground. But it never got there...instead, he felt strong, secure arms catching him and lowering him down gently. His head was being cushioned.  
  
When Kouji opened his eyes a few minutes later, he found Takuya hugging him close, tears escaping his dark brown eyes and trailing down his face.  
  
"God...oh gods Kouji...I thought...I thought I lost you. I thought that when you became KendoGarurumon...oh Kouji I couldn't even feel you!" Kouji felt a pang of guilt as his weary mind started to ever so slowly piece together what had happened. He didn't remember some of it...being controlled by the beast spirit had been a very weird experience. He hadn't really seen the battle...his mind had been aware of it, but his eyes had taken no part of it. Until the end, when he had found himself falling...  
  
He shuddered in Takuya's embrace, and was surprised to find himself starting to cry a little as well. He suddenly didn't feel very good-not very good at all, finding it harder to breathe then ever before, and his eyes closed as he fell into the blissful darkness of his mind.  
  
Takuya felt a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it gently and looked up to see Junpei looking tired and ready to leave.  
  
"I know Kouji's hurt Takuya, and I think I understand how you're feeling now. But we can't stay here...at least not out in the open. We need to find shelter or something, and we need to look at Kouji's wounds. He's fallen unconscious, and there's not doubt that he's probably more exhausted then the rest of us are." Takuya wiped the tears away with the back of his hand and nodded.  
  
"True, but look around us...there's no sort of shelter here once so ever!" Takuya knew he was right as he watched while the other's looked around in dismay. They'd forgotten that the Gatsomon was still with them, so when he spoke next he startled them all.  
  
"Don't be so quick to judge this area...in fact, the next city...is right below us. And they've got a healing Digimon who can take care of Kouji-and any of the rest of you who are wounded."  
  
"What about Bokomon and Neemon? What happened to them?" Izumi whispered, feeling more tired then she'd care to admit.  
  
As though answering her question, they arrived suddenly at the edge of the mountain trail that led up to the clearing they were in.  
  
"You ninny...I'm the one who got us out of that confounding cage! I'm just surprised that they forgot about us!" Bokomon whined, and Neemon sighed and shook his head as he poked Bokomon suddenly who eyed him in frustration.  
  
"POKE ME ONE MORE TIME AND I'LL...!" But Neemon then pointed to where everyone else was sitting or standing, looking to tired then Bokomon cared them to be. They'd obviously all been through something...and when he saw the state Kouji was in, his worry grew even more.  
  
"It's about time you guys got here...you're late!" Junpei shouted crossly, and Bokomon snorted as Neemon hurried in front of him to get to the others first.  
  
"Yeah, well...blame it on Bokomon, who forgot how to picklock...and none of the other villagers would help no matter how many times he asked." Neemon replied, sounding just as cross and sending Bokomon a look of annoyance.  
  
"I was asking to get help from someone to help me so many times because I was getting sick and tired of being cramped up in that small cage with a smelly Digimon such as yourself! Now keep quiet Neemon while I figure out what's been going on in our absence!" With that, Bokomon reached over and snapped Neemon's pants, causing the rabbit-like Digimon to give him a hard glare, as Bokomon headed to where Takuya was with Kouji.  
  
"Dear me...something did happen...?" Takuya sighed and nodded as he brushed hair out of Kouji's face...his bandanna was falling off...and his ponytail was falling apart as well. Takuya took the bandanna and fixed it enough so it would stay on until it had to be taken off. Somehow, he doubted that Kouji would've wanted the others to see him with his bandanna off.  
  
"Kouji found his Beast Spirit." Junpei muttered, and Bokomon cheered.  
  
"And...? What next?" He asked, eager for more news.  
  
"He fought Gigasmon...and sent him over the edge...he's gone-for now anyway. But Kouji got hurt badly in the battle..." Izumi murmured softly, and Bokomon regretted having cheered-but he was glad that Gigasmon would leave them alone for awhile-and hopefully give Kouji-and from what it looked like everyone else as well-a chance to recuperate.  
  
"Gatsomon says that there is a village underneath us...do you know the way to the city Bokomon?" Izumi asked, and Bokomon shook his head.  
  
"I am afraid not. However, it seems like our Gatsomon friend here does, and if he'd be more then happy to lead the way, I'd gladly follow." Gatsomon nodded, looking even more pleased that he could help the Digi Destined a little more then he had thought he originally could.  
  
"Then that settles it. We head down to the city...starting now, because night's going to fall soon and I don't want to sleep out here." Takuya said, and the other's agreed. Junpei glanced over his shoulder as he saw Takuya standing, bringing Kouji up with him, and groaning a little. Takuya realized that his shoulder still hurt a great deal, and he must not have felt it while the adrenaline had been rushing through his body from all that was happening, but now that his adrenaline was slowly disappearing he felt it all the more. He knew that though it was healing nicely, he didn't think that he could carry Kouji...at least not all the way.  
  
"Takuya...do you want some help?" Junpei offered, wondering if the other brunette would accept it or not. Takuya must've been tired enough, because he nodded a little at Junpei's question. Before Takuya could protest, Junpei had very gently scooped up Kouji's unconscious figure into his own arms, noting how light the dark haired teenager was.  
  
"This is the easiest way to carry him...he's injured too badly for us to do it any other way." He explained lightly, and Takuya nodded, feeling the headache that he had felt earlier start pressing into his skull. They followed Gatsomon to where the stone figures lay, surprised when he pulled a tree branch to reveal a secret door...and a long, long flight of stairs that never seemed to end. Gatsomon led the way in, followed by Bokomon and Neemon, then Takuya, who grabbed one of the first torches he saw so they could actually see where they were going, as it was pitch black down as far as he could see, Junpei followed with Kouji in his arms (as much as Takuya had wanted Kouji to be in his own arms, he knew at the moment that his energy was taxing out, and while he would've been able to carry his koi for awhile, he knew he couldn't last the whole way into the city and was grateful for Junpei's help) and then Tomoki with nervous looking Izumi bringing up the rear.  
  
The stairs seemed to last for an eternity. And Takuya was slowly starting to feel his eyes droop with exhaustion. Now he knew what Kouji felt like a day or so ago when he'd woken him up that one morning...and now all he wished was for a nice warm bed...and for Kouji to be lying right next to him in it, uninjured and not hurting. The others were also stumbling along, and just as Takuya (and also Junpei) was about to open his mouth and say something, Gatsomon grinned as he showed them the city a little ways below...and gasps rose all around from the Digi Destined, even Izumi's eyes opened wide at the site.  
  
"Moto Bono...have you guys ever seen anything like this?" The other's shook their heads at her question for beneath them was a city that seemed to have a glow all around it, it's buildings were all white, and as they neared the city a little more they saw that there were carvings etched into all the buildings and the ground as well.  
  
"How much...further...?" Takuya was interrupted by his yawning as the Gatsomon shook his head, smiling.  
  
"Just a couple of more flights and then we will be there...can you make it?" He barely managed a nod, but Takuya somehow, with the others who were gazing in awe at the city before them, managed to make it the rest of the way down.  
  
"Anybody home?" Junpei wisecracked, and the Gigasmon nodded.  
  
"Yes, but we need permission to enter the city-if he'll let you enter." The other's raised an eyebrow at this, wondering what the Gatsomon meant when suddenly a Wizardmon appeared out of thin air.  
  
"Who is it that wishes to enter the Imperial Underground City?" He hissed out, his voice low and menacing, causing the other's to take a step back-all but Gatsomon, who stood bravely before him not afraid.  
  
"I have brought with me the Digi Destined who hold the Spirits of Flame, Wind, Thunder, Light, and Ice. You must let them cross through! They have just done battle with the legendary Evil Hybrid Gigasmon, and the one who managed to banish him from your lands has been seriously hurt!" For a few seconds, the Wizardmon was quiet, and the other's fidgeted, wondering if he'd let them enter. Takuya hoped he would...Kouji wasn't looking so good, and Takuya knew he needed help. But the Wizardmon was taking his sweet time deciding. Takuya balled up his hands in frustration, knowing they did not have the time for such games as this.  
  
"PLEASE! Let us pass through! My friend is really injured...please...he needs help, and we were told you've got a healing Digimon within! I beg you..." This trembling statement from Takuya caused the Wizardmon to raise an eyebrow...a human, begging him...?" After a few restless minutes, the Wizardmon finally answered.  
  
"Fine...but only the injured one shall pass." When Takuya heard this, his jaw nearly dropped, but he narrowed his eyes at Wizardmon and shook his head defiantly as he crossed his arms over his chest, wincing a little bit at the pain in his shoulder.  
  
"No way. Kouji's not going anywhere without me!" The Wizardmon only shrugged.  
  
"Okay, fine then...have it your way." With that, he turned around and disappeared...just vanished into thin air. Izumi groaned and dropped to her knees, feeling tired.  
  
"Great...now what do we do?" She murmured, as Takuya sighed and shook his head. Junpei had lowered Kouji to the ground, his arms getting too tired to carry him any longer, and so Takuya headed over to where Kouji was lying, and knelt down next to him, placing a hand on the dark haired teen's forehead.  
  
"We need to get inside that city. If only the Wizardmon wasn't there to guard it." Takuya said, feeling anger flow through him as he saw Kouji's eyes flutter open, and he groaned weakly.  
  
"Kouji?!?" Kouji managed a small smile.  
  
"How do you feel?" Takuya asked, trying to get him to respond...after a moment of considering his answer to Takuya's question, Kouji finally did. It was soft-the other's couldn't hear his reply, but Takuya could.  
  
"Tired...really tired." He murmured, his breathing turning light and shallow as his eyes closed and he fell asleep once again.  
  
"Hang on Kouji." Takuya whispered, brushing back fallen strands of hair as he stood up and nodded at the other's.  
  
"Wizardmon said that only Kouji would be allowed to pass through-he's the only one of us injured badly enough. As much as I don't want to be separated from him, he needs the medical attention." Izumi nodded, but Junpei looked thoughtful.  
  
"Takuya...how does that shoulder of yours feel?" Junpei asked, as Takuya looked at him quizzically until Junpei explained.  
  
"It's probably still not fully healed...we could use that as an excuse, right?" Takuya frowned, thinking about it-until the frown was replaced by a slow smile.  
  
"You know what Junpei-you might be right...now how do we get that Wizardmon to come back?" Takuya asked, and looked at Gatsomon, who sighed.  
  
"Alright, fine, I'll try calling him again." So he repeated what he had said the first time-but no Wizardmon appeared. The rock Digimon shook his head and shrugged his small shoulders.  
  
"Looks like it's not going to work a second time around."  
  
"Why don't we just try and walk on in?" Tomoki asked, putting his hand on the golden gate-which suddenly burst open as he did so. The other's looked as shocked as Tomoki felt at what had just happened, but Takuya grinned.  
  
"Way to go buddy! Come on...let's see if we can find any help." Junpei had one of Kouji's arms around his shoulders as Takuya had the other arm around his. Tomoki and Izumi followed Bokomon, Gatsomon, and Neemon who led the way into the city.  
  
They didn't get very far however, when the gates slammed shut behind them...and turned from gold to iron...and an angry looking Wizardmon appeared before them, using his wand to freeze them in their tracks-they couldn't move.  
  
"Please...we only want to get help for our friend!" Izumi hollered, surprised that she could still talk as they couldn't move. It was weird, being frozen...  
  
Wizardmon regarded them with a strange look, before another voice interrupted the scene.  
  
"Wizardmon, that is enough! I know that you take your duty to protect this city under great honor, but you mustn't let it make you too thick headed. It's obvious that these children are hurt, and are in need of Faramon's healing powers." Wizardmon looked terrified for a moment at the feminine voice that echoed throughout the city, before he turned around and fell to his knees, bowing toward where the voice had come from.  
  
"Yes my lady-I am so sorry. Forgive me." A Digimon looking very much like an ordinary human woman, came floating out, giving Wizardmon a soft smile.  
  
"All is well." Then she looked over at Takuya and the other's, still frozen from Wizardmon's spell. She clapped her hands twice.  
  
"And I release you." The Digi Destined sighed with relief as they felt that they could move again, and they sighed in relief as they tested their arms and legs, making sure they could really move.  
  
"Thanks." Izumi sighed, feelin incredibly glad that she could feel her own body again, and the other's nodded with her in agreement.  
  
"Now...from what I hear and see, it sounds like you're all very tired- and one of you is definitely injured. You need to come and see my husband, Faramon. He'll take care of you." As they followed her, Takuya realized that they didn't even know her name, but felt to tired to ask. When they got to the domed castle in the center of what seemed so far, to be an empty city, it was Junpei who finally asked the question of her name as he scratched his head, looking like he was trying to remember something.  
  
"You know, you never told us your name...?" The Digiwomon laughed lightly as she led the way into the castle-like structure before them.  
  
"My name, Chosen One, is Naramon. That is what you can call me. Now come, my husband's healing quarters aren't that far from here."  
  
Naramon was right-it didn't take too much longer to get there. By the time Junpei and Takuya had placed Kouji on one of the beds in the large room that Naramon had directed them too, they sighed wearily. Junpei sank to a soft cushion on the floor not to far away, where Izumi had immediately sat down, feeling as tired as the rest of them were. Tomoki looked as though he was ready to fall asleep any second...even if it meant sleeping while standing up. And Bokomon and Neemon weren't that far away. Even Gatsomon looked tired.  
  
They waited until Faramon showed up, a kind and gentle smile on his face, mirroring that of his wife's.  
  
"You all look so tired. Naramon, why don't you show everyone else to quarters that they can stay at while their friend heals here? They also look like they might want to bathe as well." Naramon nodded and squeezed her husbands shoulder before beckoning to the Digi Destined, who stood slowly and wearily started to follow her out-all but Takuya, who stayed by Kouji's side.  
  
"Come child, you must rest." All Takuya did was shake his head at Faramon's request, feeling his headache growing worse with each movement. Izumi, who was about to step out, turned around and motioned Faramon over. He did so, and she whispered something into his ear, and he smiled softly.  
  
"Thank you for telling me that. Now, go and follow Naramon." Izumi nodded and headed off to catch up with the other's, as Faramon turned around and gave Takuya a small smile.  
  
"Now, let's see what we can do about that shoulder of yours, and the headache you have, hmmm?" Takuya groaned at this.  
  
Izumi must've told... He thought, but gave a wry grin when he figured out why.  
  
Of course...she told him why so I could still stay with Kouji-as much as I hate her for telling Faramon about my injuries...she also did me a favor. Takuya found himself nodding at Faramon, but looked meaningfully at Kouji.  
  
"Yeah, okay-but only if you take care of him first." Faramon chuckled as he nodded, and moved into the direction of where Kouji lay. Takuya moved with him, reaching over and holding Kouji's hand. He wasn't too surprised, that when he gripped it, Kouji lightly squeezed his hand back.  
  
~***~  
  
Kouji felt like he could hardly move, he was so tired...all he knew was that he was sleeping-but for how long had he been doing so? And what about everyone else...? Most importantly, what about Takuya?!?  
  
The thought of his koi, caused him to stir a bit. He felt a cool hand on his forehead, and some strange mumbling that he could not make out...but the words sounded comforting almost. Like sleep...peace...comfort. Kouji knew he was slipping back into either sleep or unconsciousness, but before he did, there was one thing he needed to know.  
  
"T-Takuya...?" He managed to breathe out, and there was a low, comforting chuckle as he rasped out his question, his throat feeling suddenly dry and parched as he licked his lips. A cup or something was brought to his lips, and for a minute, Kouji refused...and then he heard the voice he wanted to hear.  
  
"Relax...it's only water." Takuya. Takuya was there with him. Kouji allowed himself to drink, and reached up, somehow finding Takuya's wrist and grabbing hold of it...letting him know that he was done. Takuya pulled the cup away, and moved in closer so he could hear what it was that Kouji was saying.  
  
"Stay...with...me..." He murmured, suddenly feeling more tired now. Though he realized that it was no longer as hard to breathe as it had been before, and he gave a little sigh of relief at that. But now, he wanted Takuya to be with him. He heard Takuya chuckle and felt him crawl into the bed, pulling him close, and Kouji enjoyed the warmth as he faded off into actual sleep...one that wasn't aided by medicine's or exhaustion. Just normal, restful sleep-one that he knew he needed badly.  
  
"Of course I'll stay with you...sleep now Kouji, you're safe...and I love you." Kouji felt Takuya kiss his forehead gently, and Kouji felt himself smile a little bit.  
  
"Love you...too." He whispered, before falling back asleep once more.  
  
Takuya couldn't help it...Kouji looked too adorable. When he requested that he stay with him, Takuya couldn't help but oblige-and the healing Digimon, known as Faramon, had said that it was alright as long as he was mindful of the injuries that Kouji still held. Takuya yawned suddenly, realizing just how much time had passed since he himself had had any sleep.  
  
After they'd managed to get Kouji to Faramon, Takuya had begged the healing Digimon to let him help. At one point, Izumi had pulled Faramon aside and gently explained the situation...and why Takuya was not willing to leave Kouji's side. Faramon seemed to understand, and at least allowed Takuya to stay with Kouji. Takuya knew that Kouji had been in pain...he could see it in his facial expressions. Until at one point, Faramon had offered a tea that would put Kouji into a healing sleep. And Takuya consented-only to not see his koi in pain anymore. But according to Faramon, it wasn't actual sleep-the kind that when you woke up from it if you'd had enough, allowed you to feel rested and whole again. And that was the kind of sleep that Kouji had fallen into now...when his fever broke, and he discovered he could breathe easier again-mainly because Faramon (with Takuya's help) had managed to bind Kouji's ribs tight enough so that they could heal properly. And wouldn't cause him anymore problems. With the rest of Kouji's scrapes and other wounds checked, cleansed, and bandaged, Faramon had also checked the others, before coming back to Takuya (who protested that he hadn't needed any kind of medical attention) and bandaging the gash on his forehead that he must've received sometime during his fight with Gigasmon and put a sling back on...he glanced down at it with disgust. The horrid thing was getting in the way again-but when Izumi had 'accidentally' tattled and told Faramon that Takuya had been getting over a separated shoulder a little less then a week, he'd put him back in a damned sling. And here he had been thinking that he was finally rid of it.  
  
He knew he was only thinking that and had gotten upset with Izumi for telling Faramon because he was tired. The others knew it...they had finally managed to get cleaned up, and have a hot meal before Faramon's wife had sent them off to bed. Takuya hadn't even gotten to the bathing part...but he knew he could wait until Kouji woke up, feeling better. Besides, he wasn't that bad...he had had a bath just awhile ago at that inn...  
  
Takuya shuddered as he tried to forget what had happened there-how Kouji's ribs had gotten broken probably because of that stupid, arrogant, evil Veggiemon, and slowly found his eyes closing-much to his dismay and against his will. He wanted to be awake when Kouji woke up again...and if he was asleep, there was no way that he could be awake...when the time came...before Takuya knew it, he had slowly drifted off to sleep, his figure cuddled up with Kouji's as gently as he could possibly be.  
  
When Faramon came to check on the two boys with his wife Naramon, the two smiled at each other. Now Naramon was glad that she had intercepted Wizardmon's decision to not allow the chosen ones to come through...Wizardmon knew that when he was dealing with the wife of the healer Digimon of the city, that he had no choice but to allowed at least the injured through-he knew that much. In the end he resigned to let all of them pass, as Takuya hadn't wanted to leave his friends side. Naramon found it rather sweet of the goggle-wearing brunette actually. And when Faramon had told her that they were 'together, together' Naramon knew that their love was strong. Especially looking at the two of them now.  
  
Smiling at her husband and giving Faramon a slight wink, she headed over to the bed and lifted the covers, pulling them up more and adjusting them around Takuya's and Kouji's sleeping figures as she tucked them in and made them more comfortable.  
  
When she came back to the doorway, she saw Faramon shaking his head, and she smirked and crossed her arms over her chest.  
  
"What do you think is so funny my husband?" Faramon grinned and shook his head again.  
  
"Nothing my dear wife...just the way you take care of those two...almost as though they were your own." He whispered, and Naramon giggled.  
  
"Speaking of our own, we've got a couple of little one's we must attend to now that the chosen one's are alright and sleeping peacefully." Faramon nodded as he led his wife out of the healing area and back to home, promising himself that he'd come and check on the chosen children later. 


	16. Future Predictions

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon-if I did, it would be Takuya's head on Kouji's lap in that one episode of Frontier, instead of Takuya's head in Izumi's lap...:P  
  
Author's Notes: Hides in fear and then slowly peeks her way out of the hiding spot Heh...I guess...I'm sorry? I really am, I owe you guys a big apology for how long this has taken me to bring out. I just had a major case of writer's block with this part that's coming up, and I had no idea what to do with it. But thanks to some other loyal author's who loaned their eyes and ears out to me, I was able to overcome the writer's block I had on this and get some great ideas for it. After the next couple of chapters, this fic is going to take on a completely different course...just to warn you guys. It'll still have the Takoujiness that we all love, but as from what you've all read I've been trying to stay within the lines of what season 04 WAS, but just making it Takouji instead of anything else...however, I've come up with a really big twist that I think you guys will actually like better then what I was originally planning on going with. I'm not telling anyone anything, you're all just going to have to sit and wait it out- And no, I'm not going to make you guys wait as long as you had to for this!  
  
Have I said that I really don't like the new editing deal with FF.NET when you're posting a story? I can't do anymore smiley faces...pouts Anyway, let's get on with the fic, shall we? I know you all have been ever so patient, so here's chapter 17...(yes, finally, I know, I know.)  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Warning: If you don't like yaoi/slash then I suggest you leave now or forever hold your peace-Takoujiness full speed ahead.  
  
Pairings: Takuya/Kouji  
  
Different Journeys  
  
Author: Angel Spirit  
  
Chapter 17: Future Predictions  
  
After having rested fully, the Digi Destined were finally ready to take on their journey once more...Takuya's shoulder had healed, and Kouji was pretty much back to his normal self. Save for the fact that now Takuya was practically attached to his hip...after he hadn't been able to feel Kouji when he'd spirit evolved, Takuya quickly realized that he never, ever wanted to feel that way again.  
  
So for the past many days, the two boys had spent nearly every waking moment together-luckily for them, Naramon and Faramon had had a bed big enough for the two of them to sleep in...in a separate room for the other's. It was almost as if the two healing Digimon knew exactly how Takuya and Kouji felt about each other.  
  
The night before they were supposed to leave, Kouji pulled Takuya outside after dinner, and the two just walked. It felt nice to be in the fresh air after 'hiding' down in the underground city for so long. Faramon and Naramon didn't want them to have a run-in with Grumblemon and were afraid that if any of the Digi Destined had gone topside, that that was exactly what would happen...it was as simple as the fact being that they weren't strong enough...that was then though.  
  
Now, Takuya took a deep breath of fresh air and grabbed hold of Kouji's hand, squeezing it tightly as Kouji squeezed back, smiling a little in his direction as they walked away from the staircase leading down into the city, which had hidden itself once more.  
  
"So...what are we going to do?" Kouji asked quietly, as Takuya walked next to him in silence. He knew what Kouji's question was about.  
  
Bokomon had talked about going to the Digital Street Fair not to far from where the underground city was, where an Ogremon who told fortune's might be able to help tell them a little bit more about their spirits and the processes of evolution. But Kouji and Takuya had talked before Bokomon had brought up the street fair, and were making plans to leave very early the next morning before the others even got up-to continue on their own.  
  
But now that Bokomon had told them this latest information-both teens were having second thoughts.  
  
Takuya at this point, trusted the other's more then Kouji did. Though he knew small details of what had happened the moment he'd fallen unconscious after he'd spirit evolved. Junpei had been the one to carry him most of the way into the underground city, as Takuya had been to the point of sheer exhaustion then.  
  
But it had been Takuya in the end who had gotten Kouji the medical attention he'd needed so badly...and hadn't left his side.  
  
Kouji still remembered wakening the first time, and feeling Takuya's soft, gentle touch, telling him that everything was going to be okay.  
  
Later, when he'd talked with Izumi and Junpei, Izumi had told him that Takuya wouldn't budge, and Faramon had given in and allowed Takuya to stay with him. He'd found out from none other then Tomoki, just how scared that Takuya really had been when he'd spirit evolved.  
  
And Takuya still hadn't fully talked the whole ordeal over with Kouji himself. Which, he'd been planning on doing tonight-which, was why he was getting away from the other's to have some alone time with Takuya. He'd been clingy lately-and while Kouji didn't mind it all that much, he knew that this pretty much meant that something was still bothering the brunette next to him.  
  
They walked, lost in thought, until they reached a small lake not far from where the hidden staircase was...as Faramon had warned the two of them not to go out to far on their own-until Kouji had bluntly reminded the healing Digimon that they'd be leaving tomorrow anyway and would no longer be under his care.  
  
As Kouji kneeled and tested the water with a hand, he stood and turned around to give Takuya a mischievous grin.  
  
"It's not that cold...still quite warm from the sun earlier today." He said, flicking the water off of his hand into Takuya's direction. The brunette tried to shield himself and let out a little squeal, and Kouji only grinned as he removed his windbreaker and motioned toward the water.  
  
"Last one in is a rotten egg?" He asked, a playful glint in his eye as Takuya nodded, knowing exactly what Kouji was thinking of.  
  
"Oh, you're so on Minomoto!" Within seconds the two boys had stripped and raced each other into the water, Takuya complaining that it was cold, while Kouji thought that it was still warm and just fine. When Kouji sneaked up on Takuya and wrapped his arms around him, Takuya jumped a bit in surprise, but immediately relaxed into Kouji's touch as they just floated in the water, watching the sun finish setting and twilight swiftly approach.  
  
"Not so cold anymore?" Kouji murmured into Takuya's ear, giving his neck a soft kiss as Takuya grinned and rolled over to face him suddenly...knocking Kouji off balance. When Kouji came up sputtering, Takuya chuckled.  
  
"I'm warm now...thanks to you." He grinned mischievously as he ducked underneath the water...and then didn't resurface.  
  
"Takuya?" Kouji only called after him after a few minutes of hesitation, and then panic started to swell within him when he didn't get an answer, and he tried again.  
  
"Takuya? Takuya, come on this isn't funny!" Now Kouji was panicked...more panicked then he should be, he knew, and he should've known that Takuya was pulling one of the many pranks that he had often used on Shinya when he and his younger brother would go swimming-it almost always scared the crap out of Shinya, and it was sure scaring Kouji now.  
  
"Takuya, come on...!" As Kouji treaded water and turned, looking for his koi, he felt someone suddenly right next to him, and a pair of strong arms nearly lift him out of the water as Takuya quickly resurfaced. Kouji shivered suddenly from the cool night air, before glancing down and glaring at Takuya, who was grinning at him.  
  
"That wasn't funny." He mumbled, as Takuya gently lowered him back down into the water and kissed him gently.  
  
"How about an apology on my part?" Takuya whispered into his ear, and Kouji shivered again-though this time, not from the cold.  
  
Eventually, the two boys had remembered that they'd left other people behind, and so they'd gotten dressed and headed back to the hidden stairway.  
  
"So what are we going to do in the morning?" Kouji murmured, resting his head against Takuya's shoulder as he had his arms wrapped around his koi's waist as he stepped on the rock that made the piece of earth move to reveal the staircase. Takuya sighed and leaned a little bit into Kouji's embrace.  
  
"I don't know...I supposed that maybe we should go with them." He heard Kouji sigh and release him.  
  
"Alright. If you want to go with them, then we'll go with them...but I'm only saying this once Takuya-I've got a bad feeling about this." Kouji murmured, as Takuya reached out and grabbed his hand and the two of them slowly descended back down into the underground city.  
  
"Can we rest? My feet are tired."  
  
Of all people, Kouji would've thought that it would've been Izumi to be the one complaining. But Junpei seemed to be their official residential whiner for the day.  
  
"Junpei, we just rested like, fifteen minutes ago!" Izumi told him, sighing as she crossed her arms and shook her head. To her, he was really becoming a pain in the rear-and from the icy glares that Kouji was sending in their direction, she was pretty sure that he felt the same way about them as she did about Junpei at the moment.  
  
Tomoki had been oddly quiet throughout the morning, and Izumi watched him as he watched Takuya and Kouji interact with each other. Often they'd be walking so closely side by side, that Izumi could see their fingertips gently brushing across each other's, and sometimes they'd be holding hands.  
  
They continued to walk, until it was Takuya who decided that it was finally time for a break-much to Junpei's relief, who fell to his knees to the ground with a happy sigh.  
  
"It's about time." He murmured, watching as Takuya and Kouji slipped away for awhile, and he frowned.  
  
"What gives them the right to go off on their own and leave us here? What if we get attacked by Grumblemon or something? Kouji's the only one who can really fight him." The dark brunette complained, and Izumi-fed up with his bantering, walked up and smacked him alongside the head.  
  
"OW! Izumi that hurt." He complained, and Izumi sniffed as she turned to walk away, grabbing Tomoki's hand in the process.  
  
"It only hurt because you know that you deserved it...brat. Come on Tomoki, let's go and see if we can find anything edible in this forest." Tomoki was more then happy to oblige, and quickly followed Izumi without so much of a glance at Junpei.  
  
Junpei pouted, but then grinned as he grabbed one of his chocolate bars from his secret stash and grinned triumphantly to himself.  
  
"Booyah...all to myself. That trick works every time, I swear."  
  
But as Junpei munched on his chocolate, his thoughts turned from Izumi to Kouji and Takuya. Opposites attract, he mused as he continued to munch, enjoying the peace and quiet. He had also been watching Kouji and Takuya, only from sheer interest in what they did to show their affection for one another. And it became quite clear to Junpei, that Kouji was the one who wasn't much into PDA...whereas Takuya would often be the one to give the other the gentle touch, or wrap his arm around his waist and hold him close sometimes when they were walking. And most often, Kouji would succumb to it.  
  
For Junpei it was almost as though Kouji seemed to still not trust him, Izumi, or Tomoki that much. He closed his eyes as he finished off the bar of chocolate, wondering just exactly what the two lovebirds were up to now.  
  
Takuya knew that Kouji was still quite doubtful on traveling with the others. He'd been...not himself since they'd started off earlier that morning. More distant then usual, and now that they were finally alone, he saw that Kouji allowed himself to collapse into his arms, as they rested with Takuya's back against the tree trunk, his arms wrapped warmly around Kouji's shivering frame.  
  
"Are you cold?" Takuya whispered into Kouji's ear, as Kouji shrugged.  
  
"A...a little." He admitted, and Takuya held him tighter as Kouji snuggled into the warmth of his arms. This was what he had wanted all day...to just snuggle with his koi-to feel his warmth...as he'd been cold since they'd left the underground city. And he had no idea why-it was a perfectly sunny day, hardly a cloud in the sight, and the weather was warm...like it was around late spring, early summer in the Digital World.  
  
So Kouji had no idea why he was feeling the chill that wouldn't seem to leave him. But Takuya's warmth definitely helped.  
  
Kouji was sure that he had fallen asleep at one point, because the next thing he knew, Takuya was gently shaking him awake at one point.  
  
"Come on love...time to get going again, the other's are getting a bit restless." Kouji nodded as he allowed Takuya to help him stand and he stretched as they made their way to where the other's were waiting for them, having rested for awhile at least and were now ready to go again.  
  
"How much further until we get there Bokomon?" Izumi asked, after they'd been walking for awhile, and Bokomon got out his book and checked the many pages of maps within it, before he finally landed on one that he stopped to read.  
  
It took him a few minutes to answer Izumi's question, but when he did, it was a thorough enough answer to satisfy everyone.  
  
"I don't think that we'll be able to get to the city tonight, we'll probably have to stop-unless if you guys feel like walking all night long and then in that case we should get there sometime early in the morning."  
  
The other's paused for a few minutes to discuss this.  
  
In the end, it was voted that they walk for part of the night, and then stop and sleep for the other half...continuing on in the morning and then they'd reach the Fair City by mid afternoon or so. And then they continued on.  
  
Everyone was pretty quiet, Takuya and Kouji led the way, with Izumi walking behind them and Junpei and Tomoki in the back. Kouji was too tired to care with the fact that he and Takuya had chosen to hold hands or link arms sometimes during their hike. He didn't care what the other's thought about them either now-sure, he knew that Junpei probably wasn't to thrilled with the fact that he and Takuya were both gay...but hey, he should...it would help his chances better with Izumi.  
  
And Kouji knew that he had a crush on the blonde. Why though, he'd never figure it out...sure, Izumi was...well, one could say cute. He personally didn't think so, but hey...maybe to Junpei's eyes, she was the prettiest girl he'd ever met.  
  
But the silence was a bit uncomfortable between them all. And soon, Kouji wished that they could finally stop to rest-so he could have Takuya all to himself.  
  
Kouji wasn't the only one feeling the uncomfortable silence. Every once in awhile Izumi herself would find her eyes glancing back and forth between where Takuya and Kouji walked in front of her, to where Junpei and Tomoki were walking in back of her.  
  
She felt like she was in the middle of something-and it was driving her crazy. What was wrong with them all? Junpei and Tomoki had agreed earlier, like when they'd been at the tavern awhile back before getting captured by the crazy Veggiemon and his gang, that they wanted Takuya and Kouji to travel with him.  
  
So why was everyone so bent out of shape?  
  
Or maybe it was just her imagination, and they were all too tired-though, she didn't know why they should be, since they did have that long rest back at the Underground City.  
  
It felt good to have some female company back there-since she was the only female here now. Naramon had given her a chance to talk to her, as well as her daughter who was actually quite nice. Both of them had taught Izumi a little bit about healing, enough so that if they were to get into trouble again, Izumi could at least help out a little bit.  
  
Finally, when she thought she couldn't walk anymore, Takuya came to a stop by a small river.  
  
"I think this is a good of place as any to stop for the rest of the night...Bokomon and Neemon look like they're ready to fall asleep on their feet..." Takuya's voice trailed off as he looked behind him to see that Kouji had actually offered Tomoki a piggy back ride at one point, and now the youngest Digi Destined had fallen asleep.  
  
Kouji nodded as he sighed with relief as he was able to finally put Tomoki down-he was starting to get heavy, and his shoulders were starting to ache.  
  
"Anybody want anything to eat?" Izumi asked softly, wondering if they should even bother lighting a fire and cooking anything that Bokomon could manage to find for them.  
  
But her question went unanswered-and answered at the same time as Takuya shook his head while Kouji was already wearily walking away from the small group, and went to lay down by a tree, putting his back against it and using a hand to massage his neck...and giving a meaningful glance to Takuya. A look that Takuya couldn't pass up.  
  
"I think we want to sleep more then eat at the moment Z." Junpei said softly as he watched while Takuya headed over to where Kouji was, and watched again as Kouji shifted enough so that Takuya could take his spot, his back now to the tree as Kouji leaned against him with a sigh.  
  
Junpei stopped watching the two lovebirds at that point, and decided to go and find his own place to sleep. Which ended up having Tomoki in the middle of him and Izumi. He sighed as he closed his eyes, not seeing the scene that was taking place a little bit away from them.  
  
Kouji felt Takuya start rubbing his shoulders, and he groaned a little, enjoying the massage.  
  
When Takuya started kissing his neck, Kouji practically melted against him as he allowed the brunette behind him to shower him with kisses.  
  
As soon as Kouji turned around, their lips met, as they continued to kiss wrestling one another for control-and eventually, Kouji allowed Takuya to have it as they rolled over so that Takuya was on top of him. Kouji didn't know when his ponytail had become loose, and his bandanna had been taken off. And Takuya didn't realize that his gloves were missing, and so were his hat and goggles.  
  
He was too busy removing Kouji's blue and yellow windbreaker to even care...as Kouji was removing Takuya's own red shirt, and then eventually both yellow shirts came off.  
  
"So glad it's a warm night out..." Takuya murmured as he kissed Kouji hard again, as Kouji kissed equally hard back at him, and suppressed the shiver that he felt run through him. Yes, he knew it was a warm night out...but it was still cold to him for some reason. Even though Takuya's warm body was on top of his own, he still felt a chill.  
  
Takuya wanted to go further, but Kouji stopped him.  
  
"We need sleep...and the others are only a little bit away from us...what if Tomoki woke up?" He murmured, and even though Takuya pouted, he agreed and rolled over so that he was on his back lying next to Kouji, and pulled Kouji as close as he could, while Kouji snuggled into him and rested his head on Takuya's shoulder.  
  
"I'm starting to wonder if you were right about us not needing to travel with the group."  
  
Kouji raised an eyebrow at his koi, who shrugged and put an arm around Kouji's shoulders.  
  
"I mean...it'll get harder to do...well, what we want to do, you know?" Kouji nodded then, knowing exactly what Takuya was talking about, and sighed.  
  
"I know...maybe tomorrow when we get to Fair City we can find some time...alone...from the others." He murmured, and Takuya grinned sleepily.  
  
"That sounds like a plan to me." He felt his eyelids drooping, and he was almost positive that Kouji was doing the same as Kouji sleepily whispered a goodnight to him before he kissed Takuya's neck one more time, and allowed his eyes to finally fall shut.  
  
Takuya stayed awake for a little while longer, knowing that it wasn't the safest if they were all asleep-but he, like everyone else, was tired too.  
  
And he didn't feel any danger around...and Kouji certainly hadn't sensed any either earlier when Takuya had chosen this spot. And Takuya knew that if his koi had sensed any danger, he wouldn't have allowed them to stop.  
  
So eventually Takuya sighed, giving up the ghost as he finally allowed his eyes to slowly close and succumb to sleep.  
  
Too bad he didn't see the pair of dark blue eyes watching them from the shadows.  
  
"I can't believe we all fell asleep last night...and didn't set any watches at all." Junpei muttered as he'd woken to find some of his chocolate stash gone.  
  
Izumi giggled as they continued their hike, and Takuya only smirked as Kouji shook his head.  
  
"So that's what you were hiding from us all this time Junpei-chocolate! At least you had food with you." The dark haired teen pointed out, as Junpei pouted for the rest of the way to Fair City.  
  
Of course, Junpei wasn't the only Digi Destined to wake up and find something missing. Kouji had also woken to find his bandanna missing-but otherwise then that, everyone else still had their possessions.  
  
It was just bothersome for Kouji to not be wearing his bandanna-he felt naked with out it, as his hair was in it's normal high ponytail, but fluttered backward with the breeze. And it was strongly starting to irritate the hell out of him.  
  
"When we get to Fair City, maybe we can find you a bandanna or something." Takuya suggested, and Kouji only nodded. It was a good idea-Fair City was as it sounded-nothing but a city that was turned into a big street fair-or according so to Bokomon, who had gotten the information out of the big book he carried around in his pants. How he did that, Kouji didn't want to know.  
  
By the time they got to Fair City, tensions were high.  
  
Kouji was irritated because his hair kept on constantly bothering him, and Takuya was cranky because Junpei had started to complain about how he and Kouji were constantly showing PDA...and that it was starting to become unwanted.  
  
Tomoki was just plain old grouchy from lack of sleep over the past couple of nights, and even Izumi was starting to loose her temper-though, it wasn't at Takuya, Kouji, or Tomoki-it was at Junpei. She thought that Junpei was being nothing but a big jerk toward Takuya and Kouji, and by the time they all got to the edge of Fair City where they only had five more minutes to walk before entering a colorful bazaar, Izumi finally lost her cool as she turned to Junpei and pointed a finger into his chest, her bright blue eyes glittering dangerously.  
  
Even Takuya and Kouji were a bit shocked at how she stood up for them...that she even had stood up for them.  
  
It made Kouji want to trust Izumi a little bit more then he had been recently, as he readjusted his windbreaker that he had taken off at one point and tied around his waist because it had gotten so hot.  
  
"YOU are being self-centered, spoiled little brat Junpei! I am so sick and tired of your insults that you keep muttering back there toward Takuya and Kouji! I don't know what's gotten into you since we left the Underground City, but you're being a major ass! I don't want to hear you say anything until we get to Ogremon's Palace! And then tonight, you'll apologize to Takuya and Kouji, and gather firewood and anything edible-while we all go and bathe...the chores are all yours tonight Junpei, and don't...say...one...word about it." Junpei had opened and closed his mouth like a fish, staring at Izumi with wide eyes, surprised that she even had the guts to say something like that to him.  
  
And then he realized what a true jerk he had been, and felt ashamed. Even if he wasn't so okay with Takuya and Kouji being together...he could've at least been a bit quieter about his discomfort, and treated them with respect-they were his teammates afterward.  
  
So he hung his head in shame, feeling a heat rise to his cheeks as Tomoki, Takuya, and Kouji all stared wide eyed at the scene that had just taken place as Izumi wheeled around and stalked off toward the city. If it were possible, Kouji could've sworn that he saw smoke coming out of her ears.  
  
"We'd better catch up with her before we loose her in the crowd." Takuya reasoned, finally breaking the silence as the other's nodded and took off after her, Junpei trailing behind as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, thinking deeply about what Izumi had just told him.  
  
Fair City was something that none of the Digi Destined had ever seen before. And though they all wanted to look around, Bokomon insisted that they go to Ogremon's palace first.  
  
So despite the complaining of some of the Digi Destined who wanted to explore, they did just that.  
  
It didn't take them long to find the huge palace like building that seemed to be at the end of Fair City, and when they got there, all Takuya wanted was a glass of water.  
  
They bumped into some Geckomon, and upon finding out that they were the Digi Destined from Bokomon immediately ushered the teens inside.  
  
"Normally Ogremon doesn't see anybody unless if he 'sees' their future before hand, and then he'll call upon them afterward to tell them what he saw. But you're a different case, and I do believe that he's been expecting you. Please wait here while I go and get him-is there anything we can get you while you're waiting?" One of the Geckomon leading the way asked, as Takuya nodded and looked at the others.  
  
"I think we can all use some water." The Geckomon nodded and sent another to fetch what was requested.  
  
"Very well. It should arrive shortly, I'll come and fetch you when Lord Ogremon is ready."  
  
Kouji had to force the snort that threatened to come out, as he heard what the Geckomon had called the Ogremon...Lord? They had yet to see any Ogremon, but somehow, Kouji didn't think that he would resemble any kind of Lord.  
  
Though, the moment that the Geckomon who had left suddenly came bearing a tray with a pitcher filled with ice water and a seven cups, Kouji found himself not caring about anything else. As he took and filled his and Takuya's glasses and then handing the pitcher over to Izumi who filled hers and Tomoki's before silently handing it off to Junpei.  
  
They stood there quietly drinking the refreshingly cold water, until the original Geckomon who had guided them through the entrance and the halls, came out to get them.  
  
"Lord Ogremon will see you now-be prepared as future's will be told." He warned, and this time Kouji had to bite back laughter that threatened to come out. Even Takuya looked like he was having a hard time believing this, and Izumi looked skeptical. Tomoki only grinned though, Junpei remained silent.  
  
"I think this'll be fun...I've never had my fortune told before." He said quietly as they entered the darkened room, where Kouji found the Ogremon standing at the far end in the darkest part-it was hard to see, and he wouldn't have seen him if he wasn't squinting.  
  
"This will not be a fun fortune telling young Destined...I see nothing but grave danger ahead for all of you." As the Ogremon came up to them, Izumi actually gasped and hid behind Takuya and Kouji. Takuya threw a look back at her, as Izumi only continued to stand behind the two. To her, the Ogremon looked hideous-only in the scary way though, not the ugly way.  
  
The Ogremon laughed softly.  
  
"I know what you think of me young one, and I will not harm you." Izumi blushed, and eventually found the courage to come back out from her hiding spot from behind the two boys.  
  
He smiled gently at her.  
  
"In fact, you will be meeting a dark haired stranger very soon-and have more feelings for him then you do on any one of your teammates currently. You'll want to put your soul and trust into this young stranger...but be careful. Looks can be deceiving...very deceiving, mind you. Keep your mind clear, and your eyes open and you'll see the truth. Never doubt the friendships that you've forged so far...keep them close, and your enemies closer. Please leave now while I continue on."  
  
Izumi nearly allowed her jaw to drop when the Ogremon told her to leave. Feeling slightly ambushed-and a bit embarrassed, she lowered her head and turned gently around as she exited the room, doing as she was told. Knowing that the Ogremon would not continue unless she left.  
  
To her relief though, Neemon decided to go along with her-agreeing with her later that the Ogremon was a little on the creepy side. She had to smile at that...at least she hadn't been the only one to think of that.  
  
"You young man, will face a difficult decision at one point along the road. But you will allow your heart to guide you, and find faithful friends along the way. Do not let your mind tell you what your heart thinks is right. You know what I am talking about. The one you want to love you, is one who can not share that love in return-that doesn't mean you will not find it somewhere further down the road-after this adventure perhaps. But your friendships will be strong. Don't let your judgement cloud your mind...have faith in others, and you'll learn that trust is the most important thing to come to you."  
  
Junpei nodded, not fully understanding exactly what the Ogremon was telling him, but also somehow knowing that he was referring to what he thought of Takuya and Kouji at the moment. He had the feeling that the Ogremon was finished with him, so he followed what Izumi had done and slowly walked out of the darkened room.  
  
The room seemed to grow darker, and at this point Kouji actually felt himself shivering much more then he had ever done before. The room felt like ice was gripping him by the shoulders-when in reality it was really only Takuya's hands as he felt Takuya rubbing his hands up and down his arms seconds later, as though trying to warm him. He had put his windbreaker on long ago, but it wasn't warm enough.  
  
"And you my youngest one...you will face many challenges ahead. Do not allow anger to consume you, remember that it will only be a test, and one you must past. You will again meet with those who you have not thought highly of, but instead of being a bully, they will be your greatest ally. You will dance with darkness, but your steps will be misplaced...a good omen for you little one." Tomoki nodded, and then did the most thoughtful thing and bowed at the Ogremon before he left the room...no one saw the small smile the Ogremon had on his face.  
  
"Finally, down to two brave warriors...both very much in love, their souls entwined together...possibly forever. But there are trying times ahead."  
  
The dark eyes that they'd seen throughout the fortune telling turned to Takuya.  
  
"Be mindful of what you take, for it could lead to disastrous consequences. You'll keep your friends-and loved ones (he flicked his dark eyes at Kouji when he said this and Kouji shivered some more) close, but you'll find yourself wanting to keep your enemies closer...be very wary of those who's looks can be deceiving. Never forget the love you feel now...never. Now leave...there is one last fortune that I must tell, and Bokomon, I wish for you to leave with Takuya." Takuya stood still suddenly as he gripped Kouji's hand and Kouji squeezed it back.  
  
The brunette found himself not wanting to leave his koi-Kouji hadn't stopped shivering since they'd gotten into the room, and he was shivering worse now then he had before, his face looked pale and a sheen of sweat was starting to be noticeable on his forehead.  
  
"I...I want to stay." Takuya whispered softly, as the Ogremon shook his head and pointed out toward the door.  
  
"No, you must go. This only for Kouji to hear...it is important. You will see him in a few minutes." Takuya felt something pulling at him as he turned and headed for the door. He opened it, and looked back once, seeing the frightened look on Kouji's face as Bokomon had already left the room...feeling disappointed that he couldn't hear the rest.  
  
"I love you...I'll see you in a few minutes." Takuya heard himself whisper, as he slowly walked out the door and felt it close softly behind him.  
  
Kouji had never felt so cold-it was as though he could never warm up. And the moment Takuya left his side, he fell to his knees, shivering hard as he looked up at the Ogremon.  
  
"Why...why am I...freezing?" He managed to get out, as the Ogremon didn't smile gently as he had at Izumi, or allow his eyes to brighten as he did when he looked at Tomoki. He only gave a cold, hard stare to Kouji. Making him feel even colder if possible.  
  
"Because you are being warned of the greatest danger yet to come..."  
  
Kouji closed his eyes, waiting to hear the rest of it.  
  
As soon as Takuya heard Kouji scream, he was on his feet.  
  
It had taken too long, and he was starting to get worried...wanting to go in and check on his koi. And the moment he heard Kouji scream, not even the Geckomon could keep him away, as they'd been doing so for the past fifteen minutes or so.  
  
Izumi looked as worried as Takuya felt-what she heard, wasn't a scream of fear-but one of pain. And she was quick on Takuya's heels, wondering what had happened.  
  
Takuya managed to push past the Geckomon, despite their protests, and head back into the now lightened room, lighted with millions of candles...and found Kouji lying on the floor, still shivering-if not so much harder then when Takuya had left him.  
  
"T-Takuya..." Kouji whimpered, as Takuya pulled him close, looking around. No Ogremon in sight, and he felt one of his hands curl up into a tight fist before relaxing it and using it to brush away strands of Kouji's fallen hair, realizing that at some point, Kouji's ponytail had come undone.  
  
"Shhh...what happened?" He whispered, as Kouji continued to shiver.  
  
"I...I...Takuya, I'm c-cold...no-no warmth...only darkness..." Kouji murmured as he clung to Takuya who stood, swinging Kouji a little bit so that he was now supporting him a bit more accurately.  
  
"Come on, I'm going to get you out of here." He whispered, and as he left, the Ogremon was watching him...but said nothing, only turned around and left the room completely-and as he did, the candles started winking out one by one.  
  
TBC   
  
AN2- I know...don't hurt me...I promise I'll update again soon...but...the cliffhanger could've been worse? RIGHT...? And I AM working on the next chapter, so no worries there...and don't worry, someone gets a beast spirit in the next chapter as well (FINALLY, yes I know-don't give me that look! :P) but you guys probably have it all figured out who it'll be-and if you don't...or haven't yet...then you'll find out in the next installment! I just wanted to let you guys know that I was still alive and kicking here...more Takoujiness to come! 


	17. Fire and Ice

**Disclaimer: Since this fic contains the sweetness of Takouji, then I obviously don't own Digimon...(pouts)**  
  
Author's Notes: And yet once again another replayed episode of Frontier makes me want to work on this story...just to get to that point so I can rewrite it my way! And for those of you who want to know what that episode is, it's Ice, Ice Baby...that's right, the one where they totally screwed up Ice Devimon's voice...ugh! I couldn't stand it! It might've worked for Etemon in season 01, but it so doesn't work on Ice Devimon!-He's supposed to sound a lot more...um...meaner (okay, not the BEST word to use, but hey, you guys know what I mean, right)? Then what he sounds like! Watches as author starts to fume. Okay, I'm done now-sorry, I just can't get over the voice deal...otherwise then that, I really actually like the concept of that episode drools at all the Takouji hints (Kouji saves Takuya and takes the ice bind for him! Kawaiiness or what? -) ANYWAY...clears throat-as I am yet to be NOWHERE near that part sighs-it just makes me more determined to continue working on this fic...and I've got no idea just how long this fic is going to be-it's already pretty long (my longest fic yet, yeah!) So, I thinkith that I'll go now and let you guys read and enjoy...and thankx to all of you who've been keeping tabs on this fic and leaving reviews! You're all very much loved by this author-I promise when this thing is done, there will be a long, long list of people I need to thank...and I'll thank you all individually then! However, until then, please continue to review...they really keep me going-I always enjoy seeing a review pop up in my inbox every once in awhile for this fic...it leaves a smile on my face when I see just how much someone's enjoyed reading it. -   
  
**Story Rating: PG13  
  
Warning: If you still haven't figured out that this fic contains yaoi/Takoujiness, then this isn't the place for you...(however, I'd be amazed if you've gotten this far and haven't figured that out yet! :P)  
  
Pairings: Takuya/Kouji  
  
Time Setting: An AU rewrite of season 04...with everyone's favorite kawaii couple together throughout  
  
Chapter Summary: Hmmm...last time the DD's made it to Ogremon's palace, where they got their 'fortune's' all told...some of them weren't too bad (like, Izumi's-she found out she's going to meet a mysterious dark stranger who she must learn to trust) other's however, were quite upsetting (like Kouji's...he wasn't in very good shape when we last left him actually...). Now the question is, what was it that Ogremon told Kouji that caused him to be so upset? And Kouji's about to find out just how Takuya felt when Kouji got his Beast Spirit...  
  
Different Journeys  
  
Author: Angel Spirit  
**  
Chapter 18: Fire and Ice  
  
He was in Takuya's arms...he should've felt warm. But instead, he felt cold...too cold. He tried to suppress his shivers so not to worry Takuya, but he couldn't help it after awhile. He was already wearing two blankets, and also had Takuya's body heat...yet he felt like ice was crawling through his veins. And he didn't know how to get warm.  
  
Takuya stirred, and Kouji immediately felt bad for waking him up.  
  
They'd managed to find an inn that had a couple of rooms and once again they split up within the group so that Takuya and himself could have a room to themselves. Which, was nice to have some time alone together...  
  
"You still cold?" Takuya's whispered voice startled Kouji for a moment from his thoughts, and even though he wanted to lie to Takuya and tell him that he wasn't cold, he knew that Takuya would know that he was lying. So he gave up on any thoughts of trying to tell him that he wasn't and only meekly nodded his head.  
  
The night was warm-warm enough for Takuya to have taken his two shirts off, along with his gloves which were on the chair next to his bed. But since Kouji hadn't stopped shivering since they'd left Ogremon's palace, he'd left on his windbreaker and then had gratefully accepted the two blankets that Takuya had managed to find in the room. His long hair was out of it's ponytail, and he'd taken off his bandanna-or had Takuya done that at one point during the night?  
  
"Is something wrong Kouji?" Kouji shook his head this time, wanting to sleep, but he felt too cold to sleep. He also felt cold enough at this point, that if he closed his eyes, he wasn't sure if he'd wake up.  
  
"You're awfully quiet...I wish I knew..." Takuya sighed and rubbed his hands up and down Kouji's arms, and Kouji leaned in against him.  
  
"You've been cold since before we entered Ogremon's palace, and it's just increased since we've gotten out...maybe we should ask Bokomon if he knows anything about it-or at least a solution to help you." Earlier, Kouji would've been stubborn and had told Takuya that he was fine, that he'd get over it himself. But now, as he tried to keep his teeth from chattering, he could only nod at Takuya's suggestion.  
  
Takuya did a double take at this, fully expecting to have had Kouji to rebel and tell him that going to Bokomon was the last thing he wanted to do. So when he agreed as quickly as he had, Takuya knew that something was definitely not right with his koi. And he was even more worried about him...  
  
Reaching out and gently grabbing Kouji's hands into his own, Takuya bit back a gasp of surprise. Kouji's hands were like ice...they were so cold...  
  
Keeping his pale hands in his own tan ones, Takuya started to rub them gently, hoping to at least bring some heat into them. At one point, he heard Kouji whimper and he practically threw himself into Takuya's arms, and Takuya put his own arms protectively around his koi. Oh yes, something was definitely not right on...let's go to Bokomon." Kouji barely felt himself nod as Takuya carried him from their room to the room down the hall where the other's were staying in. He had wrapped his arms around Takuya's neck, and had buried his face into the warmth of Takuya's neck, his legs wrapped around the lower part of Takuya's chest. He could feel Takuya's warmth...so why wasn't it transferring to him and making him warmer...?  
  
Suddenly, Kouji felt like a scared little kid...  
  
And to Takuya, he had every right to be. Shifting a little bit so that he could knock softly on the door, so not to disturb any of the other guests who were staying at the inn, Takuya heard someone moving around, and then some mumbling as that same someone came to open the door.  
  
He blinked at the dim light within the room, and saw Izumi standing before him, her hair tousled as though she'd just woken up-which, she had.  
  
Rubbing her eyes a little, Izumi glared at Takuya for a second, before she also saw that something wasn't quite right.  
  
"Takuya? What's wrong?" Takuya motioned for her to let him and Kouji in, and she immediately stepped aside so that he could maneuver easily enough around her as she gently shut the door behind her.  
  
"Kouji can't warm up...he's freezing, we don't know what's wrong. We were thinking that maybe Bokomon might have an idea." Izumi frowned in concern and nodded as she stepped over the still-sleeping Junpei and Tomoki as she went to wake up Bokomon, who was still sleeping as well, curled up in his own small blanket.  
  
It took only a gentle prod to waken him though, and then Bokomon was instantly on his feet, looking wide awake and alert. When he saw that they weren't in immediate danger, he sighed and looked at the three teenagers in front of him with a look that said 'why the hell did you have to go and wake me up in the middle of the night while there's no danger to worry about...?' and then took in the sight of Takuya still holding onto Kouji.  
  
"Is something wrong Takuya?" He asked softly, the look in his eyes from when he'd been woken up diminishing slightly as Takuya nodded.  
  
"Yeah, there is...Kouji's cold-freezing cold. Has been since we left Ogremon's palace-nothing I do seems to warm him up and I've tried everything Bokomon! We were wondering if you might know what's causing this?"  
  
Bokomon frowned, biting on his lower lip as he took out his book and thumbed through it.  
  
He finally sighed and closed the book, putting it away after what seemed like an eternity of him searching for anything to help Kouji.  
  
"I'm afraid I didn't find anything...at least nothing of value in this case. The best thing we can try to do is try and keep Kouji as warm as we can and then maybe try and find a healer in Fair City who might be able to help him." Takuya sighed and shifted Kouji's weight in his arms as Kouji weakly moaned and started to shiver again.  
  
"Do you guys just want to stay here the rest of the night Takuya?" Takuya looked startled at Izumi's question, but didn't hesitate when he nodded at her a half a second later.  
  
"Yeah...actually, if you guys don't mind. Sure."  
  
Smiling gently at Takuya, she managed to round up a few extra blankets, and gave them to Takuya who gently laid Kouji down and wrapped him within them.  
  
"I think in the morning we should do what Bokomon says and see if maybe there's a healer in this city who'll know how to help him. The inn keeper is nice enough, maybe he'll know someone who can help?" Takuya sighed and shook his head.  
  
"I agree with you Izumi...I just...it's almost as though every time we go into a city or something we always have to go and see a healer...and lately it's been Kouji who's been hurt..." Izumi placed a gentle hand on Takuya's shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.  
  
"He'll be okay Takuya. Lately everything turns out alright...this is just...a minor setback, but we'll find a way to help Kouji-Takuya, I promise." Takuya reached over and squeezed her hand, giving her a soft smile.  
  
"You know...I never thanked you...for sticking up for us like that with Junpei awhile back." Izumi blushed-hard enough so that Takuya could see it in the darkness, and then she shrugged.  
  
"No biggee. You are both my friends-and besides, Junpei was being a jerk...now he even admits that he was. I think...it just took him awhile to get used to the idea of you two being...together. Actually, I think it's rather cute." Now it was Takuya's turn to blush and Izumi giggled a little.  
  
"It's true, you two really do make a cute couple. Anyway, why don't you get some sleep Takuya? You look really tired...I'll keep an eye on Kouji for a couple of hours if you want to." Takuya hesitated. He knew he could trust Izumi, he just didn't want to leave Kouji alone.  
  
"I'll wake you if anything happens Takuya, I promise." Finally giving her a small nod Takuya went and laid down next to Tomoki, but realized he was still close enough to Kouji, still huddled in the blankets-looking like he'd finally managed to get some sleep himself.  
  
Takuya finally felt his own eyes starting to slowly close and allowed sleep to succumb him. He thought he heard Izumi singing something softly in another language, and reminded himself to ask her what the lyrics were next time he had a chance...

* * *

It was early in the morning when it happened...  
  
A loud screaming noise could be heard from Ogremon's Palace...causing everyone in the inn to be wide awake in an instant, scrambling to get their bearings and understand what was going on. The Digi Destined were among the many Digimon, trying to figure out what could've caused a scream like that to echo through Fair City.  
  
"It was Ogremon, I'm telling you." A Frigemon declared as Izumi had asked the question out loud.  
  
"But what would cause him to scream like that?" Tomoki asked, a worried look combined with a look of fear on his face and in his eyes as he held tightly onto Takuya's hand. He didn't know why-he just suddenly felt safer next to Takuya. To him, Takuya seemed more like an older brother to him then his own older brother back home had ever been to him. Maybe that was why he just felt safer next to the brunette.  
  
Even Kouji looked cautious, though his was still cold. At the moment though, the other's seemed to forget about that other fact, as he wrapped his arms around himself-trying to get warm, though he knew that the effort was useless. He debated about going back up to the room to get a blanket or something, and scolded himself for not having remembered to bring one down in the first place.  
  
"That is a good question young one, and we have not the answer to that." A fairymon answered kindly, and everyone in the rooms sighed-until they heard Digimon screaming in the streets. Immediately the Digi Destined headed for the door to the tavern, and Kouji gave up on the thought of grabbing a blanket to help keep him warm.  
  
Though the moment they all stepped outside, he bit his lower lip and rubbed his hands over his arms once more, though he knew that the action wouldn't help-as nothing else had.  
  
"What's going on?" Junpei had managed to grab one of the Geckomon that they'd seen in the palace the other day running through the streets, and it was clear that the little Digimon was frightened...more like scared out of his wits to be exact.  
  
"There's a vicious Digimon on the loose!" He squealed, struggling to be let go, but Junpei only tightened his grip...just enough to hold him, not enough to hurt him.  
  
"What kind of 'vicious' Digimon?" Izumi asked softly, glancing at Junpei as she watched the Geckomon struggle in his grasp.  
  
"B-Burning Greymon!" Was all that he could manage as he let out a small squeal of fright before he managed to get free of Junpei's hold on him and started running-and never looked back.  
  
"Burning Greymon?" Takuya murmured, as he sent a glance to Bokomon-as did everyone else, and Bokomon sighed...and got out his book as he started to look through it once more, trying to find the information that the Digi Destined requested.  
  
"There's nothing here on Burning Greymon...wait a minute, never mind...there's a little bit of information here, but it doesn't make sense. It says that he's a very powerful Beast Spirit...and contains immense fire power, but that's about all."  
  
The other's looked at each other, the message sent through their gazes saying one thing, and Takuya was the one who brought it up.  
  
"Bokomon said Beast Spirit-so that must mean that it must belong to one of us." The other's all nodded slowly, and Kouji once again bit his bottom lip as Takuya suggested they go after it. He suddenly really didn't feel very good...especially about the situation at hand.  
  
"Takuya...are you s-sure that it's wise to go after that thing?" He murmured into his koi's ear, as Takuya suddenly focused his attention on him and frowned once more when he saw that once again Kouji was freezing cold.  
  
"It's the only way to stop it-is to go after it. And we can't allow it to keep on tearing apart this city and scaring people. You can stay here-" But before Takuya could finish his sentence, Kouji fiercely shook his head.  
  
"No. No way am I staying here, and you know that there's no way you can make me. I'm going Takuya." Takuya sighed, knowing that Kouji was right- there was no way that he could make Kouji stay at the inn...even if he managed to force Kouji to stay, he knew that Kouji would find some way of getting to where the other's would be at one point.  
  
Pulling Kouji into a small hug and allowing Kouji to rest his head on his shoulder, Takuya nodded.  
  
"Alright...alright, you'll come with us. But promise me you'll be careful?" He whispered, and Kouji bit back a smile that threatened to appear as he heard this.  
  
"You're telling me to be careful? That's a new one." He scoffed, and finally allowed his smile to show as Takuya gave him a small grin in return.  
  
"I know...but just promise me okay?" Kouji nodded as they looked at the others, whose gazes weren't upon the affection that Takuya was showing Kouji, but rather they were focused on the sky above-where the dome to Ogremon's palace had just been blown sky high, and they got their first glance at Burning Greymon.  
  
"Everyone duck for cover!" Takuya shouted as debris from the exploding dome came raining down upon them. Some Digimon managed to get away in time, as Takuya shoved both him and Kouji underneath one of the strong, sturdy tables that earlier yesterday, had been decorated and filled with...well, bizarre things that only a Digimon could really want or need.  
  
He just hoped that the other's had heard his warning and had also found cover.  
  
It took several minutes before the debris stopped falling, and as Takuya checked to make sure that Kouji was alright-which, he was-he crawled out and looked around for the others, Kouji following him momentarily.  
  
They found Izumi clutching tightly onto Tomoki in the doorway of a store that had a low and sturdy enough arc that had protected them from getting seriously banged up. They found Junpei underneath another table a little bit of the ways down, looking a bit freaked out but otherwise fine as Takuya offered him a hand up-and he accepted it gratefully as he brushed himself off, glaring at the sky where they'd seen Burning Greymon pass only a few minutes before.  
  
"I'd like to give that guy a piece of my mind! What right does he think he has doing something as dangerous as that?" Junpei muttered, as the other's nodded in agreement with him.  
  
"We'd better get going then, and find him...anyone have any idea as to how we're going to do just that though?" Kouji asked, brushing dust and small pieces of rubble from his clothes and his hair. He grimaced as he ran a hand through his dark long strands-it was in need of a good washing-again. He hated it when his long hair got dirty-that was the downside of keeping it as long as he did.  
  
As an angry scream echoed through the trees and the city once more, the Digi Destined winced, and Izumi pointed a shaky finger in the direction of where it had come from.  
  
"I-I suggest that we follow that." She murmured, clearly not looking forward to having to go after such a scary sound. But yet, it couldn't be helped-they were probably the only ones who could save the city...and they knew it too.  
  
Neemon hid behind Bokomon each time a deafening roar was heard...and at one point both Takuya and Kouji thought that they would go deaf if they had to hear it once more...the nearer they got to the horrible, terrifying sound, the closer they knew they were to Burning Greymon.  
  
And as Takuya felt the hairs on the back of his neck prickle as they started to enter a clearing, they saw him...and before they could do anything do make sure that Burning Greymon didn't see them, it was too late-for he swiftly turned around, and glared at the Digi Destined.  
  
Suddenly, Junpei-and Tomoki-both felt like they just wanted to flee the scene and let the other's fight. But when Junpei turned a little to see Izumi standing her ground-and not looking half as scared as she probably felt, he felt some of his own courage return, and glanced down at Tomoki who glanced up at him. With that look the two boys shared, they both nodded at each other, their courage heightening a little more.  
  
Takuya realized that Kouji was shivering yet again-but he doubted that it was from anything but fear...the two of them had been through too much lately for something this big to really be frightening to either one of them. No...he knew that Kouji was probably still cold, and it made him ache inside to know that there was nothing he could do to warm him up...he hated seeing that pained look in Kouji's eyes-it was barely there, and he knew that the other's couldn't see it, but he could. It made him realize just how close that he had really gotten to Kouji over the past several days of their stay in the Digital World...and it also made him realize that he wouldn't want to go through with this adventure with anyone else but.  
  
And he knew that Kouji felt the same way...he got that much from the small smile that Kouji gave him when he reached out and grabbed a hold of his hand and squeezed it tightly.  
  
"Hey there big fella...we...we don't want to hurt you..." Takuya said, feeling a large amount of nervous energy course through him. He had never thought in a million years that he'd face something this big.  
  
"HELP ME!" It was a piercing scream, that none of the Digi Destined were able to stand, but instead had to shield their eyes and faces as a tremendous wind ripped through the clearing, tearing at their clothes and hair.  
  
Again, Burning Greymon roared and the Digi Destined started to move backward as the evil Digimon seemed to get upset...and swiped it's tail toward them. Everyone managed to get out of the way at Izumi's startled cry of warning...however, one of them was not so lucky to dodge the monstrous tail.  
  
As Kouji was thrown through the clearing, Takuya dashed after him, not caring about the danger-only praying that Kouji was alright.  
  
He was...just a little winded, and winced a little as Takuya managed to get toward his side and help him sit up.  
  
"Are you okay?" He asked, concern obviously showing in his dark brown eyes.  
  
Kouji nodded, and sat up the rest of the way with Takuya's help, glaring at Burning Greymon as he took out his blue and white D-Tector.  
  
"Yeah...I'm fine...let's put his fire out!" Takuya nodded as he got out his own D-Tector, and everyone else followed suite.  
  
Within minutes they were evolved, and standing before Burning Greymon-who looked as furious as ever.  
  
Only this time, they were able to hear the cries of help from within, and Agunimon's eyes opened wide.  
  
"W-why does that sound like Ogremon?" He stammered out, as Burning Greymon's tail powerfully whipped around once again-this time though, all the Digi Destined managed to avoid getting knocked by it-even Kouji, as Lobomon glared at Burning Greymon.  
  
"Maybe because it might be Ogremon?" Neemon whimpered out softly as he peered from behind the tree where he had ran to out of fright when Burning Greymon's tail had come around the first time.  
  
Agunimon and Lobomon glanced at one another, and nodded as they decided to try and reign in Burning Greymon, and attacked at the same time.  
  
Their mission was partly successful, as one could say that it knocked some sense into Burning Greymon as he toppled over at the impact of Agunimon's and Lobomon's attacks as they backed off, standing next to Kazamon and Beetlemon.  
  
"I am Ogremon!" Burning Greymon's deep voice grumbled out as he stood...and looked like he was fighting within himself.  
  
"Y-you can't be Ogremon!" Kazamon gasped out, horrified at the thought of what could happened to him. As though he knew what she wanted to ask, Ogremon/Burning Greymon continued.  
  
"I found the Beast Spirit Burning Greymon hidden within my Palace early this morning...it took me over, I'm not able to control it...it...it controls me..." And then Ogremon let out a terrified scream, and Burning Greymon clutched his head as he let out howl, after howl.  
  
The Digi Destined all glanced at each other, wondering what to do.  
  
"We can't hurt him..." Kazamon murmured, as the other's only stared at her in wonder.  
  
"What do you mean we can't hurt him Kazamon? Look at all the damage that he's done to Fair City!" Beetlemon declared, and Kazamon only shook her head.  
  
"No, we _can't_. Ogremon is innocent in all of this, none of this is his fault! It's all Burning Greymon's doing...we've got to find someway of getting Ogremon out of there, and then take care of Burning Greymon from that point on!" Lobomon glanced at Agunimon, who slowly nodded.  
  
"She's got a point. Ogremon is innocent in this." Agunimon mused, and Lobomon snorted and crossed his arms.  
  
"True-but how are we going to get Ogremon away from being possessed by Burning Greymon's spirit?" The other's only looked at each other with dismay in their eyes as they couldn't come up with anything. Their conversation was interrupted when Bokomon called out a warning to them, and they barely managed to avoid another attack from Burning Greymon.  
  
"I-!" Ogremon hollered, and then Burning Greymon's eyes changed in a flash and the Digi Destined gasped as they realized that Ogremon had been completely taken over by the Beast Spirit.  
  
"Let's take him down..._now_." Lobomon growled, and the other's nodded.  
  
"There's got to be _someway_ to save Ogremon though!" Kazamon added as they attacked once more.  
  
The fighting continued...until the other's got knocked away and Agunimon was the only one left standing. When Lobomon finally caught his breath and realized that Burning Greymon had Agunimon pinned down, he let out a warning growl and immediately decided to digivolve once more.  
  
"Lobomon...spirit evolve to...Kendogarurumon!" He let out an eerie howl, that caused the other's to shudder.  
  
He tried to knock Burning Greymon away from Agunimon, but he got sideswiped by one of Burning Greymon's powerful claw attacks, and ended up being knocked against a tree, loosing his balance for a few seconds-but that was all that was needed.  
  
Burning Greymon took the distraction, as did Ogremon...and switched places...  
  
As the other's went to make sure that Kendogarurumon was okay, Burning Greymon sought the power that Agunimon held...and wanted it. Wanted it more then Ogremon.  
  
Finding that Ogremon was no longer worthy, Burning Greymon's spirit practically spat him out.  
  
The other's saw what was happening too late, as Agunimon's form vanished, leaving Takuya-who's eyes were wide open and filled with terror. The other's covered their ears at his scream of sudden pain, and Kendogarurumon watched horrified as Takuya vanished-becoming one with Burning Greymon.  
  
As the other's shielded their eyes from the brilliant flash of light that occurred at the time of the transfer, Kendogarurumon suddenly whimpered.  
  
When the light faded, all they saw was a furious looking Burning Greymon before them...his dark red eyes glaring angrily at them (if looks could kill, they'd all be dead already-or so that's what the Digi Destined felt as they stared into those hideous red eyes). What scared them the most though, was that they saw no trace of Takuya once so ever, especially in the eyes-it was as though he was gone...like he really had vanished. And while the thought terrified the Digi Destined, it scared one of them more.  
  
The whimpering from Kendogarurumon grew louder, and as Kazamon knelt down next to him to make sure he was alright-as she realized that he had fallen back down after Takuya had vanished into Burning Greymon-Kendogarurumon suddenly let out an ear-splitting howl of pain.  
  
As the other Digi Destined covered their ears once more at the horrific sound that came from Kendogarurumon, they had to shield their eyes once more as soon as the howling died down...and when the light ceased to exist, they saw Kouji slumped in Kazamon's arms-barely conscious, beads of sweat rolling down the sides of his face-which was much paler then Kazamon or the other two Digi Destined remembered it being.  
  
To make matters worse, Kazamon felt Kouji trembling-quite fiercely-in her arms as she brought him close to her, shaking him gently as she tried to get him to stay awake, realizing how cold Kouji felt-and knew why Takuya had been so scared last night when he'd come knocking on their door, seeking advice from Bokomon.  
  
"Kouji...Kouji, are you okay?" She whispered, watching as Beetlemon and Kumamon guarded the two of them, watching for when Burning Greymon would stop fighting with himself to get himself under control and realize that they were still standing there...a little too close for comfort-or so Beetlemon thought anyway as he glanced over his shoulder, worried about Kouji. Though he didn't want to admit that he was worried-but their friend and fellow teammate really didn't look too good at the moment, and as Beetlemon heard Kouji's breathing become much harsher and unsteady, he winced. Something had to have happened to make him this way-and Beetlemon had the strangest feeling that that something had to do with Takuya and Burning Greymon merging as they had.  
  
Once again, Kazamon tried to get a still half-awake Kouji to respond to her...and this time she managed to succeed.  
  
"Kouji? Kouji, please...answer me? Tell me what's wrong."  
  
"Takuya..." Kouji groaned out the one word-the name of the one person he wanted to see the most. It was Takuya's arms who he wanted to be held in right now-not Kazamon's, even though he knew that she was only trying to help. At the moment, he felt as weak as a newborn pup-if not weaker. And he didn't like it.  
  
"It's gonna be okay Kouji." Kazamon said, trying to soothe him as she watched with widening eyes as Burning Greymon finally stopped fighting himself, and turned to face them...setting his eyes on the one person who she held trembling in her arms.  
  
Beetlemon and Kumamon seemed to realize this at the same time...as did Bokomon and Neemon.  
  
"You've got to get Kouji out of here Kazamon!" Beetlemon hollered at her, as she nodded and scooped Kouji up into her arms.  
  
"Will you guys be okay without me?" She asked, her eyes opening wide in fear as Beetlemon nodded at her while Burning Greymon made a sudden mad dash toward them.  
  
"We'll have to be-get him out of here, NOW!" He ordered, and she nodded as she barely took off in time. She glanced behind her shoulder once to see Bokomon and Neemon running out of the clearing...Neemon looking much more scared then Bokomon-but by the look on Bokomon's face, Kazamon could tell that he was getting to the point of being scared. She glanced down at the shivering Kouji in her arms, and sighed. Today was not turning out to be a good day-not a good day at all.  
  
"Oh Kouji..." She murmured as she tried to get as far away as she could. But Kouji actually startled her at one point, when he suddenly cried out in pain and clutched his left shoulder with his right hand.  
  
"Kouji, what is it?" Instead of answering her, Kouji only whimpered, his eyes squeezed tightly shut.  
  
"Takuya...gone..." He said, mumbling it as he buried his head into her shoulder. Kazamon closed her eyes, wondering what was going on between Beetlemon, Kumamon and their fight with Burning Greymon. She only hoped and prayed that what Kouji had just said wasn't what was really going through her mind. With him saying that Takuya was gone, she thought the worst-that Beetlemon and Kumamon had destroyed Burning Greymon-and hadn't saved Takuya. And if that was the case, then they'd be faced with one heart broken Digi Destined.  
  
As much as a lone wolf she knew that Kouji pretended to be, Kazamon also knew that the deep love that he had for Takuya was anything but pretend. And if Takuya was gone and Kouji was in this much pain...  
  
But Kazamon shook her head. She wasn't going to think that way. She couldn't-she had to keep her hopes up...for Kouji. He was in so much turmoil right now.  
  
Hang on Kouji, just hang on...everything will be okay...I hope...she added, and started to pray that everything would really be okay in the end...

* * *

He couldn't feel him anymore. Darkness surrounded him, and he was colder then he had ever been before...it was like his light had disappeared-as Ogremon had said that it would. It had extinguished.  
  
And if that was the case...then...  
  
"Takuya..." He heard himself whimper, and heard Kazamon's soothing voice once more.  
  
Not like Kouji didn't like Kazamon-but he'd just much rather be in Agunimon's arms-or even better, in Takuya's arms. But he had to face the possibility, that that might never happen again. Especially if this fight turned out the way Ogremon had predicted it. And if it turned out that way...then Kouji wasn't sure what he'd do.  
  
He heard himself whimper again as he felt Kazamon descend, the wind biting through his windbreaker and making him even more colder.  
  
Kouji was barely aware of his surroundings, only aware of the fact that Kazamon never left his side. Izumi didn't even break out of her spirit form, afraid that if she did, Burning Greymon might arrive and come after them again-or worse yet...Grumblemon.  
  
But this wasn't what was on Kouji's mind at the moment, as he cried out in pain once more and Kazamon rushed to his side.  
  
"Kouji...shhhh...everything's going to be okay, alright? Just hang on a little while longer." She murmured as she held him close, trying to warm him. But he still continued to shiver in her arms.  
  
Little did she know, that even though she had thought that the area that she'd landed in had been clear, that there were a pair of dark eyes watching them curiously from one of the higher trees.  
  
The battle seemed to go on and on forever. And at one point Beetlemon knew when to give up-they were getting nowhere, and Kumamon looked exhausted. It was time to high tail it out of there and find out where Kazamon had taken Kouji. Hopefully somewhere safe, where Beetlemon had told her to-but he knew that it would be impossible for them to be safe with Burning Greymon on the loose-sharing power and energy with Takuya.  
  
"Great...now we've got him and Grumblemon to worry about!" Beetlemon shouted as he and Kumamon dashed throufh the trees as they tried to evade Burning Greymon's angry, thundering feet as they crashed through the forest.  
  
"Don't even say Grumblemon's name! He'll hear you and appear, and then we really will be in big trouble!" Kumamon stammered as he tried to keep up with Beetlemon. But it was getting harder and harder, as he was running out of breath-and besides, his legs were much shorter then Beetlemon's were.  
  
"Junpei...please...I've got...to stop." Kumamon wheeze out, and as he put his hands to his knees, he suddenly turned back into Tomoki. Glancing over his shoulder and seeing this, Beetlemon only groaned as he headed back to where Tomoki had stopped.  
  
"We've got to keep on going, we have to get ride of Burning Greymon...if only for a little while." With that, Beetlemon scooped Tomoki up and placed him on his back as he continued running. He would've taken off into the air, but then they'd be an even easier target for Burning Greymon.  
  
At least down at the ground level, they couldn't be detected as easily.  
  
By the time Beetlemon evolved back into Junpei, Junpei was exhausted, and he leaned up against a tree.  
  
"You know, now we're all separated again...Izumi's with Kouji-hopefully somewhere safe-I really did not like the look that ugly back there gave him. And we're together, and we don't know where Bokomon and Neemon are...today has really turned into a big mess." He sighed as he sat down onto the ground, clutching at a stitch at his side.  
  
Even Tomoki looked miserable.  
  
"I don't know what we're going to do Junpei-Takuya's...in...in that thing...and Kouji looked so hurt..." Junpei nodded, and closed his eyes. He felt so tired at the moment.  
  
"Let's just...rest okay? Only for a little while, and then...then we'll do something. Find Kazamon...or Bokomon and Neemon...we've got to find a way to get back together and defeat Burning Greymon without hurting Takuya." Tomoki agreed as he got down next to Junpei and curled up in a tight ball, suddenly feeling a little helpless.  
  
"Junpei...Takuya will be okay...and so will Kouji, right?" all the dark brunette did was let out a small sigh.  
  
"I hope so kid...I hope so."  
  
TBC  
  
AN2-hmmmmmmm...oh yes...I think that's the perfect place to stop! (Looks around at readers shocked stares at the cliffhanger that was left for them, and blinks innocently.) Ahhhh....I think I can practically hear you guys screaming at me now and throwing those hideous glares in my direction for leaving you all like that...- HOWEVER... You all do know the way to get me to update sooner, right? Esp now since I've got a lot of spare time on my hands to write...- So please review, please? I'm in dire need of a boost me up for this fic...and the more encouragement I get from you guys, the harder I will continue to work on this. I know that there's tons of people out there who're reading this fic and totally enjoy it-don't hesitate to drop me a note through an email or a review! Some of you have even emailed me with ideas that you thought would be good to be used in this fic...and I love it when you guys do that, I really do! And I'll seriously try to incorporate those ideas into my fic, as many of the ideas were really good! As long as this fic is going to get, fresh ideas are welcome, so once again don't hesitate to email me if you've got something on your mind (or up your sleeve!) that you think would work in this! (And also let me know if you noticed any mistakes, though I don't think I did in this chapter...shrugs)

Have I also mentioned just HOW MUCH I REALLY don't like the new edit/check system? sighs-or maybe it's because my internet access is acting stupid and doesn't want to seem to work with well...hop you guys enjoyed this...grins

And, as always, Takoujiness rules...


	18. Fate

Disclaimer: Since this fic contains the sweetness of Takouji, then I obviously _don't_ own Digimon...(pouts)

Author's Notes: Um... glances around nervously Did anybody besides myself catch the MAJOR mistake that I have made in this fic and just decided to be really nice and not mention it to me...? sweatdrops and falls over I can't believe what I did... whimpers I REALLY screwed up...BUT...since this fic **IS** an AU, than that means that I can go to any length that I need to fix it...right? right So if anyone NOTICED, I screwed up with Izumi...big time. In one of the past few chapters I had Grumblemon take away her spirit...and...than I had her digivolve in the past couple of chapters watches as Angel smacks her head against the table the computer is sitting on . So I guess I need to explain this little bit, huh? (I'm actually REALLY surprised that no one has caught that... sweatdrops again ) Anyway, this is the low down for how I'm planning to explain my **really** bad mistake and dig myself out of the whole that I somehow dug for myself...

In the series when the Digidestined got their spirits taken away by Grumblemon-or any of the other villains who were constantly after them, they ended up not being able to Digivolve because their spirit was lost to them. In **MY** version, (and now I'm quite glad that I made the mistake I did because this seems **so** much better grins ) when the DD's get their spirit taken away, they can still Digivolve...they just won't have as much energy or power as they did when their spirit was whole. If they use up all the energy they have left, only than will they not be able to Digivolve anymore, and must get their spirit back. Makes any sense...? If it doesn't, don't worry, it'll be more explained in the next chapter. But for now, enjoy this one...

Rating: PG13

Warning: Usual warning complies...if you don't like the pairings listed below, than shoo...this isn't the fic for you. You've been warned...

Pairings: Takuya/Kouji

Time Setting: AU-rewrite of season 04 with the kawaiiness of Takouji (as stated above)

Chapter Summary/Recap: So we're all feeling bad for Kouji right about now because Takuya's merged with Burning Greymon-and Kouji's fearing the worst for his koi as Kazamon took Kouji away from the fight, because she, Beetlemon, and Kumamon thought that he was in danger-which, he was. But now Beetlemon and Kumamon are on the run from Burning Greymon, both exhausted from the battle...and now separated from Kazamon and Kouji, as well as Bokomon and Neemon. But now we find out Takuya's...and Kouji's...fate...are they fated to be together? Or will Ogremon's prediction come true in front of Kouji's eyes? And just what exactly _was_ Ogremon's prediction to Kouji? Whatever it was, Kouji's determined to _not_ let it happen...not if he can help it. As the old saying goes: true love conquers _all._

Different Journey's Author: Angel Spirit 

Chapter 19: Fate

Things were _not_ good...things weren't good at _all._

Izumi hugged her knees close to her as she kept an eye on the still shivering Kouji, feeling angry at herself for not being able to help him. He was obviously in pain, and quite possibly freezing to death...his skin so cold and pale...

She was really worried sick about him, and she was also worried about the others. She hadn't heard or seen _anything_ from Junpei _or_ Tomoki...and had also not seen any sign of Bokomon or Neemon as well. She truly felt _alone_-even though she had Kouji with her...but well, she had to admit that at the moment, Kouji wasn't the greatest company in the world.

He groaned in his sleep as he turned over, and she once again saw the pained expression on his face, and she sighed one more.

Izumi had decided to power down from Kazamon-only because she wanted to save her energy. But her mind was set in the right place-the moment that she saw Burning Greymon _or_ Grumblemon, she'd Spirit Evolve again. She had to protect Kouji at all cost...if she didn't she knew how furious Takuya would be with her.

And that left her to worry about yet another someone else.

_Takuya_...

She prayed to god that he was all right within Burning Greymon's spirit. She balled her hand into a fist as she heard Kouji whimper out in his unconscious sleep once more, and put her other hand on his chest, stilling him as he'd started to toss and turn a little bit.

He moaned once more, calling out Takuya's name, and her heart went out to him as she brought her hand from his chest to his loose dark bluish black hair as she pushed away some sweaty strands that had fallen into his closed eyes.

"Hang on Kouji...please...everything will be okay, just _hang on_..." She murmured, as she hugged her knees closer to her and continued to search the darkness one more...either for a sight of the enemy, _or_ their friends...she only hoped that it would be the later of the two...

* * *

Junpei and Tomoki had started off shortly after dark had fallen, thinking that it would be the best way to travel. Sure enough, they hadn't run into _anything_ that resembled Grumblemon or Burning Greymon...but the two boys were on the constant alert, glancing around them every so often as they made their way through the forest that lined the outskirts of Fair City.

"This is so not fair...I really didn't expect us to have to battle something as huge and demonic as Burning Greymon so soon after our _last_ fight." Tomoki nodded at Junpei's words, still feeling a bit tired from their first encounter with Burning Greymon. He didn't want to admit it, but he was _scared_ at the thought of running into that _thing_ again.

And what scared him even more was that Takuya was in that Beast Spirit somewhere-hopefully fighting to control it.

As he thought of this, Tomoki's dark brown eyes opened wide with excitement. If Takuya _could_ find some way to control Burning Greymon...then they wouldn't have to _worry_ about fighting him...

Suddenly filled with new energy, he picked up his pace and managed to reach Junpei as he tugged on the older teen's arm.

"What?" He asked, feeling a bit irritated with everything that was happening to them now.

"I just got an idea Junpei! _Takuya_ is _inside_ Burning Greymon...right?" Junpei wrinkled his nose and scrunched his eyes as he thought about it for a few minutes, before he slowly nodded his head.

"Right, so what?"

"_So_, remember when Kouji was first Kendogarurumon and how out of _control_ he was?" As Tomoki pressed the issue, a small light started to dawn inside Junpei's brain. He couldn't believe it-the kid standing next to him might've actually figured out the whole ordeal that was going on with Kouji-and he _knew now_ that it involved Burning Greymon-_and_ Takuya.

"Yeah, I remember. Kouji wasn't him self, he was completely controlled by his beast spirit until he _fought_ it. And _remember_ how devastated Takuya was when Kouji first Beast Spirit evolved?" Tomoki nodded, realization setting in his bright blue eyes as he now understood what Junpei had once did.

And it made both of them realize even more, that they had to get to Izumi/Kazamon. She might not have figured it all out yet.

"So what you're saying Junpei, is that Takuya might be going through the same thing? He's being _controlled_ by Burning Greymon?" Junpei nodded, feeling excited.

"Yes! And the reason why Kouji fell during our battle with Burning Greymon, is because to him, Takuya _did_ vanish completely-but he's still _there_...it's like...like he's trapped with no way out or something like that. We've just got to make Takuya realize that he _can_ control Burning Greymon-that he _has_ to control Burning Greymon...for Kouji's sake!" The grin that came from Tomoki was contagious as Junpei also held one, and they high fived each other.

"Oh yeah! Now that we've figured it out, all we've got to do is figure out where Izumi is, and let her in on this! I'm sure if we work together, we can bring our Takky back!" He knew it was corny calling Takuya by the nickname that Tomoki had taken to calling him, but it filled him with a sense of renewed hope-and a little bit more energy.

Together, he and Tomoki continued to make their way through the winding road of trees and other wildlife...determined to find their missing friends...and get Takuya back-now that they knew _how_.

* * *

Kouji...

It was the only thought on his brain, the only word that could be processed. And yet, he couldn't remember _who_ it was...or what it was...why was this name, this word so important to him?

Kouji...

Dark midnight bluish black hair falling around a pair of slim shoulders...hiding dark blue gray eyes...

Kouji...

Arms that one wouldn't think of as strong as they were; wrapping themselves around his waist, holding him close. So close he could feel the other's warmth, the other's breath upon his face.

Kouji...

The light that descended into the fiery darkness that threatened to consume him, the passion that didn't want to leave.

It kept him where he was, not letting his mind sway any further into the fiery mist surrounding him...that threatened to engulf him.

KOUJI

That genuine, loving smile...reserved only for him...no one else really saw it...the loving look in those dark blue gray eyes when they kissed...

Swimming naked in the water, enjoying each other's passion and never ending love...

_KOUJI!_

And suddenly he remembered...but he fought to keep a hold of it...and would continue to fight...until he saw him again.

* * *

"You twit...if you hadn't been so _afraid_, we wouldn't be _lost_ right now!"

"Oh, so now you're blaming it on _me_ aren't you?"

"Yes actually, I am."

"Well..."

"That wasn't necessary Neemon!" Bokomon stood fuming before Neemon, having been thoroughly annoyed by his companion. Neemon had just gathered up the courage to actually _snap_ his pants...something that Bokomon normally did to Neemon himself.

So, irritated with his friend's action, he reached over...

And snapped his own pants, receiving a glare from the rabbit-like Digimon as he did so. All Bokomon did, was cross his arms over the other as he smirked at the other in triumph. However, the smirk was vanished by another scowl as Neemon danced behind him and reached over...and snapped his pants again.

"Damn you Neemon! You won't get away with that a second time!" The younger Digimon suddenly held a look of fear in his eyes. Bokomon only swore like that when he got _really_ angry-he had gone too far this time. With a small shriek, he bounded off deeper in the forest...Bokomon chasing after him, his book held high in his hands as he threatened Neemon that when he caught him he'd knock him unconscious, tie him to a tree, and leave him there for Burning Greymon to devour...

True, it was _mean_...but Bokomon _really_ didn't like his pants being snapped...especially _twice _in one day...

However, Neemon was saved, when he bumped into Junpei-literally...and both fell to the ground. As Junpei stood and brushed himself off, Neemon hid himself behind the oldest Digi Destined and cowered behind him.

"Neemon! Are we glad to see you! Where's Bokomon?" Tomoki asked, not seeing the fear within Neemon's eyes as he pointed a shaky finger to where Bokomon was still dashing toward him, muttering curses. Junpei's eyes widened as he reached over and covered Tomoki's ears, shocked himself at Bokomon's display.

"Neemon, what did you do to piss him off?" He asked, as he turned to face a shuddering Neemon, who suddenly blushed in embarrassment.

"I...I...Isnappedhispants." The Digimon stammered out as Junpei raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, I _really_ couldn't hear you that time, come again Neemon? _Slower_?" A small grin started to appear on Junpei's face as he suddenly figured out what it was the Digimon had said. He knew that if he didn't stop Bokomon, that Neemon would be in _big_ trouble.

"I...I snapped his...his pants." Neemon visibly gulped as Bokomon came nearer, but before he could reach his companion, Junpei reached over and picked him up, and was surprised at the welcoming he received as Bokomon kicked at him to be let go.

"Let me go, _let me go_! I'm so _sick_ of him!" He thrashed around, until Junpei sighed and just continued to restrain the smaller Digimon until he calmed down enough to calm to his senses. When he finally did and realized his predicament, he blushed ten times a deeper shade of red then Neemon had done when he had admitted to Junpei what he had done to make Bokomon so _angry_, and Junpei finally felt like he could put the smaller Digimon down.

But he _still_ stood in _between_ the two Digimon. He figured Bokomon could be helpful to figure out where Izumi had gone off to...that, and he also knew that Takuya wouldn't have liked it if he'd allowed Bokomon to throttle Neemon. Which, judging by the look that had been in Bokomon's eyes, would've been something that he would've done.

As Bokomon took a few calming breaths-before sending one last glare at Neemon (who promptly squealed in terror and hid behind a startled Tomoki) he turned his attention back to Junpei.

"Thank you for that. Now...where were we?" Junpei held back a laugh.

"Well, you two bumped into _us_...and _we_ were-and still are-looking for Kazamon. I'm glad that she took off with Kouji to a safer spot, but I just wish that she would've been able to _tell_ us where it was she was going with him!" He sighed, feeling frustrated at the moment as he and Tomoki had felt like they'd been walking around in circles all evening long. He hoped that Bokomon-or even Neemon-could figure out where they were.

That was, Bokomon could stop fighting with Neemon long enough for him to do what it was that Junpei and Tomoki needed him to do...

* * *

It was at one point later on the next day when Kouji finally started to come around-much to Izumi's relief. So far, there hadn't been a sight of Grumblemon _or_ Burning Greymon. And while she hated to admit it, she really didn't want to battle either one of the two evil Digimon by herself.

Not like Burning Greymon was _really_ evil, just the fact that Takuya had yet to be able to _control_ him...but still...his _actions_ were evil-even if it wasn't Takuya's fault.

When she heard the soft moan coming from Kouji, she was immediately alert and headed over to where he had been lying since they'd gotten to their hiding spot. Admittedly it wasn't _much_ of a hiding spot-as she hadn't really been able to find anything that would really shelter them in case any of the two Digimon she had on her mind at the moment decided to confront them.

"Kouji?" As she crawled up to him, she found his dark blue gray eyes slowly blinking open, the dark blue orbs trying to refocus themselves as he became more alert and awake...even though he still _looked_ miserable-and he _felt_ just as bad.

"Where are we?" He managed to choke out, as he tried to sit up...and with Izumi's help he managed to do so.

When she sighed, he immediately knew that her answer wouldn't be what he wanted to hear.

"I...I don't really know _where_ we are...we're still in the forest on the outskirts of Fair City-or, what _used_ to be Fair City anyway before...before Burning Greymon got to it. I had to get you out of the battle area because Burning Greymon seemed so intent on getting to you, and you...well, you weren't doing to good." Kouji nodded, understanding what Izumi was trying to tell him.

He'd really fallen hard when Takuya had just _vanished_ like that. And to him, Takuya was still missing...it was like an emptiness inside of him that was growing stronger every minute and he doubted that until he saw Takuya again, that the emptiness and pain would go away.

Now he knew what Takuya must've _really_ felt when he himself had taken the Beast Spirit and had become Kendogarurumon.

"...Kouji?" He hadn't even realized that Izumi had been talking to him, so he started when she put a gentle hand on his shoulder and lightly squeezed it to get his attention.

"Sorry..." He whispered in apology and she only shook her head, a kind smile on her face.

"That's okay. I know it must be hard for you with what's going on at the moment...how're you feeling?" It took Kouji a few minutes to think of the right answer to Izumi's question. In all honesty, he felt like _shit_...he was still cold, his head ached...and most of all there was that strange emptiness inside him-like a deep, dark void that was threatening to swallow him whole.

So he shook his head at the question as he brought a hand to his head, finally managing to sit up on his own despite the protest in his aching muscles.

"I feel..._terrible_." Izumi was actually surprised that Kouji was telling her the truth. She was sure that he would've lied and told her that he was feeling fine, that he wanted to go and find the others and regroup. But instead he'd told her exactly what she had _wanted_ to hear...for she knew that even if Kouji had told her the truth, that he'd still be lying.

"Where are the others?" He asked, and Izumi bit her lower lip as she shook her head.

"I don't know. I haven't seen them since I took off with you-I hope they find us..."

Kouji nodded at this as he slowly laid back down and closed his eyes for a minute or so, trying to ignore the aching pain that he felt throbbing against his skull. It felt like someone was whacking a hammer against it one too many times...

"So we don't know what happened to Takuya then?" Izumi sighed, and Kouji knew that that was a 'no.'

"I'm sorry Kouji. Junpei and Tomoki will probably be able to tell us when they find us-or we find them, whichever comes first."

As soon as she had said this, a strange static noise started to fill the air around them, and Kouji had to cover his ears...it _really_ wasn't what he needed to hear at the moment...it only made his headache get much more worse then it already had been, and he gritted his teeth at the pain. Wishing that the horrible noise would just _stop_.

Izumi's eyes opened wide at the sudden harsh noise, and she too covered her ears...but it was still strong and loud enough so that she could hear it even by holding her hands over her ears to try and drown out the sound. But when she heard Junpei's voice suddenly through the area she and Kouji were in, she figured out a few seconds later what was _really_ causing the static that filled through the air.

It was her Detector.

She made a grab for it from her vest pocket where she kept it, and sure enough, Junpei's voice was coming through it somehow. Though she couldn't really make sense of what it was he was trying to tell her, she knew it was him.

"Junpei! Can you hear me?" She only hoped she could...maybe the D-Tectors could help Tomoki and Junpei locate her and Kouji...that way she wouldn't have to worry about moving Kouji to go look for their missing friends...

"Junpei! Can you hear me?" When Izumi's voice rang out through the D-Tector despite the static behind it, Junpei grinned and shared a high five with Tomoki. Bokomon's plan had worked.

"Yes! Can you hear me?" He asked, after having been trying to get through to Izumi's or Kouji's detectors for quite awhile now. For the first several tries, he had gotten _nothing_ but the static...and it had been _horrible_...way worse then what Izumi and Kouji had heard when they'd first realized that someone was trying to contact Izumi on her lavender and white detector.

"Kind...of...so...static..." Junpei nodded-so she was having the same problem that they were.

"Bokomon said that there was a tracking device on the detectors! Tomoki and I are heading in your direction now, so don't move!"

He wasn't sure if Izumi heard everything that he had just told her, but he hoped that she'd at least gotten the key points to it-mainly the _don't move_ part. He didn't want to have to walk any further then they already were, and if Izumi moved, it would take the detectors awhile to recalibrate where it was she had moved _to_.

"Okay...won't move...awake..."

Tomoki eyed Junpei at what Izumi had just said, as they tried to figure it out.

"Do you think it has something to do with Kouji?" Tomoki asked, biting his lower lip as Junpei shrugged and decided to ask Izumi about Kouji-at least if his name got through in the static, then Izumi would maybe know that at least they were wondering how he was doing. Hopefully _better_ then what he had been doing the last time they saw him.

"How's Kouji?" He asked, as Izumi's voice became a bit clearer through the static, and Junpei had the feeling that they were getting much more closer to their destination than they had been when he'd first started talking to her. When he glanced over to Tomoki's detector, which held the small map on the screen, he sighed with relief as he realized he was correct.

"Kouji's...well...slightly better..." Their blonde friend started to say, but Junpei cracked a smile when they heard Kouji correct her a few seconds later.

"Liar...feel...like shit!" Even Tomoki had to chuckle at this, as Junpei's smile widened and he found himself laughing along with the youth beside him.

"Make it sound...worse...than it is." Izumi muttered, her voice becoming clearer yet.

"We're getting closer to you guys I think we'll meet up with you in the next half hour or so...Junpei out!" The static was starting to drive him crazy, and he thought he heard Izumi sigh with relief-obviously the noise was bothering her as well.

"Okay."

Junpei and Tomoki continued walking for what seemed like forever. Until Junpei saw a flash of lavender through the trees and he grinned.

"I think they're just up ahead Tomoki! Bokomon, you're a genius-without your help, we wouldn't have been able to find them!" Bokomon grinned and gave the two a mock bow.

"Thank you, thank you very much. See Neemon the book _is_ helpful after all."

Of course, this coming from Bokomon to Neemon only made the two of them start arguing again, and both boys in front of the two Digimon sweat dropped as seconds later they had to separate the quarrelling Digimon once more.

"What is with you two today?" Junpei asked, feeling irritated by their constant arguing.

"Well, considering the fact that _I_ haven't gotten a _decent_ night's sleep in the past forty eight hours or so, I've got _every_ right to be cranky and-" Bokomon was cut off however, when they heard a battle cry a short distance away.

"Shit!" Junpei cried out, cursing their luck. The flash of purple that he had seen, must've been Izumi Spirit Evolving into Kazamon.

Gathering any strength that Junpei knew he had left, he started running to where he had last seen the flash, with Tomoki right behind him, trying his best to keep up. When they got to the area, they saw Kazamon trying to ward off Burning Greymon...and Kouji looking like he could barely stand as he glared down at his detector, but looked up when he heard Junpei, Tomoki, Bokomon, and Neemon come through the small hidden area.

"I can't spirit evolve...I don't think I have enough energy, and I think Kazamon's in trouble now." He told them, and indeed she was. When Junpei and Tomoki looked to where the battle was starting, they saw Kazamon being knocked against a tree and she fell to the ground.

"Let's do it Tomoki!" Nodding at him, Tomoki took out his green and white Detector.

"Spirit Evolution...Kumamon!"

"Spirit Evolution...Beetlemon!" As soon as the two of them had finished transforming, they attacked together, momentarily making Burning Greymon forget about Kazamon, who Kouji had gone over to help her up.

"You okay?" She only nodded at his question of concern, as she warily stood with his help and glanced up at Burning Greymon who was now battling Beetlemon, as Kumamon stood back waiting for his own chance to attack.

"He packs a punch that's for sure...Kouji, if I were you I'd get to somewhere safer then this...you can't evolve, and if he sees you-" Her warning came too late though, as Beetlemon was knocked flat on his back and skidded a few feet, ramming into a tree...he was out like a light.

Kazamon gasped as she saw this, but her eyes widened in horror when she saw Burning Greymon advance toward her once more...but he wasn't looking at her, he was looking directly at Kouji.

"Go! Get out of here!" She cried, pushing him in the opposite direction.

For a moment Kouji stumbled and lost his balance, and as he glanced over his shoulder to see Burning Greymon advance toward him.

"Takuya?" He knew that somewhere deep down inside, Takuya was there. He just had to reach through to him. If he did it quick enough, he knew that he could save Takuya before it was too late.

For a split second Burning Greymon stopped-almost as it he were hesitating. And in that brief second, Kouji heard the other's screaming at him to get out of the way-to get to safety. But he held his ground-he wasn't going to run. If Takuya cared for him, and loved him as much as he said that he did, he wouldn't let this Beast Spirit of his hurt him.

"I _know_ you won't hurt me Takuya. I _know_ you love me...just like I _know_ that you're in there somewhere!" His eyes narrowed in a look of defiance, and he watched as Burning Greymon hesitated yet once more.

It's _working_. Kouji thought, as he stood wearily on his feet, begging his strength to stay with him. But he felt himself sway suddenly as the painful thought of Takuya not being there coursed through him...and Burning Greymon saw this...and any hesitation that the Beat Spirit had, left as it's clawed hand swooped down towards him.

For a moment Kouji closed his eyes, thinking that this was surely it. No matter how quickly the other's got to him, the attack would've gone through and he'd be sliced to bits.

"Takuya, _please_..." Kouji whispered, as he waited for the pain of death to come.

Pain came...but not as he would've expected it. Instead of being sliced to bits as he had thought that Burning Greymon was going to do, he was now clutched tightly within his fist.

And in seconds he realized that as the hold on his body grew even tighter, that it was getting harder and harder to breathe. His dark blue gray eyes opened wide as Kouji realized what it was that Burning Greymon was doing-he was going to _squeeze_ him to death.

Panic started to swell within him, taking over his mind as he struggled to get out of Burning Greymon's grasp.

The other's stopped attacking...they knew that they couldn't risk an attack-they might hurt Kouji.

As Kouji's eyes met those of Burning Greymon's, he knew that the only way to get out of this situation, was to somehow reach Takuya...Takuya _was_ in there somewhere-he _knew_ it. Even though it was painful enough for him at the moment because he couldn't _feel_ his koi...he knew he had to at least _try_. He wasn't about to give up on his love yet.

"Takuya, I _love you_. _Please_...don't...do...this!" He gasped out, trying to control his breathing, as he struggled to get breath into his lungs-trying to calm himself enough, so that he didn't panic any further.

Burning Greymon let out a screaming roar that shook the whole forest around them, and even Kazamon found herself thrown backwards into the air a bit.

Kouji...whatever you're trying to do, do it fast... She thought, as she watched on with the other's, waiting to help Kouji whenever he deemed it necessary. And held her breath as Kouji struggled once more as Burning Greymon's grip on him tightened even more...

* * *

Kouji! It's Kouji! I'm _hurting_ Kouji...NO!

No matter how hard he fought it, he couldn't control it...tears started to make their way down his cheeks as he realized the pain that he was causing his koi. How could Kouji love him after all of this?!? He was slowly _killing_ him, and he couldn't stop it! He could only watch!

"I know you love me...I know you won't do this Takuya, please...I know you're...you're in there...somewhere...please..." 

He tried to close his eyes, tried to keep himself from seeing Kouji as hurting as he was, not wanting to hear his pleas anymore. There was _nothing_ he could do...he'd tried _everything_.

All he wanted to do was to have Kouji in his arms once more, to _feel_ his koi again.

"Kouji...I love you..." He thought he heard himself say it, but he wasn't too sure of himself anymore. It was as though a part of him was slowly dissolving into nothingness.

"_Takuya...remember what we've been through together so far! You didn't give up...on me when I...turned into Kendogarurumon!...I understand what...I put you through...PLEASE...Takuya...I don't...want to die...and...I don't...want...to loose you...please..." _

It was as though he was watching a movie or something. Like what was really going outside wasn't really happening. But deep down, Takuya _knew_. And he knew he had to stop it.

"No...please don't...god, please don't...I love him...I love him, I love him, I _love_ him...no...Kouji no! Hang on...I...I...I love you, just hang on _please_...I...I can't figure out _how_ to control it...how'd you do it...god I'm so _scared_. Kouji tell me what to do!"

As he screamed out in frustration, he saw Kouji's eyes slowly start to close as he started to loose consciousness...his breath leaving him as he slowly ceased his struggles.

"NO! KOUJI! I WON'T LET YOU KILL HIM! I LOVE HIM!"

"KOUJI!" Something inside Burning Greymon seemed to snap as he threw his head back and screamed out the name of the raven haired teen who he held trapped in his powerful fist-but this scream wasn't like the scream from before. This scream was a pain-filled scream...a scream of sorrow and anger mixed together. Something the other Digi Destined had never heard before.

And they knew then and there, that Takuya was fighting his Beast Spirit for control.

For he let go of Kouji...and Beetlemon caught him just before his limp, exhausted body hit the ground. As he gently lowered the dark haired teen to the grass beneath him, Kazamon flew up and landed next to him as Kumamon stood close by, watching with wide eyes at the battle taking place inside Burning Greymon's mind as Takuya fought for control.

"Is he...?" As Beetlemon searched for a pulse, Kazamon bit her lower lip, hugging herself as she waited for Beetlemon's answer.

When he shook his head at her, she sighed in relief.

"He's okay...but...his breathing's shallow...we need to get him out of here Kazamon." Kazamon nodded, but turned her head to watch the mind-battle taking place before them...and then slowly changed the nodding of her head to a slow shake.

"No...I don't think we need to get him out of here. I think it's going to be okay-I have faith in Takuya. I know he'll pull through-his love for Kouji is too strong."

Though Beetlemon hesitated at this, he nodded. He agreed with her-well, a part of him agreed with her...the other part of him told him to run away as fast and as far as he possibly cold.

"He's going to be okay, right?" The other two Digimon looked at Kumamon, who watched with worried eyes, and Kazamon shook her head.

"I'm not sure...for Kouji's sake, I hope he _is_ okay." Even Bokomon and Neemon couldn't say anything-Neemon hiding behind Bokomon, scared at the scene that was taking place before them.

Many minutes later, Burning Greymon let loose one final shriek of pain...before he fell to his knees, breathing hard. His crimson red eyes blinked several times...until slowly those crimson red orbs turned into bright blue...the color of Agunimon's eyes.

"Takuya?" Kazamon didn't want to believe it. But she wanted to...how badly she wanted the creature staring at her now to be Takuya, having fully controlled his Beast Spirit.

The answer she got was a simple one...

A half a second later, Burning Greymon disappeared in a brilliant flash of light...and in it's place was Takuya, sitting on his knees staring straight forward, his arms held loose at his sides.

He looked confused...unsure of himself.

Kumamon was the first one to sigh in relief as he dashed up to his friend, knowing now that everything was okay as he turned back into Tomoki before he reached the dazed and shocked brunette. He placed his hands onto Takuya's shoulders, and shook him very gently-trying to bring him back to reality.

"Takuya?" The response he got was one he really didn't like.

Blank brown eyes turned to stare at him, and for a moment all was quiet as Kazamon and Beetlemon vanished, leaving a worried and confused looking Izumi and Junpei.

"Takuya?" Again, his name was whispered by Tomoki-who was feeling a bit panicked now...Takuya _was_ Takuya...and yet...he also sensed that something was _wrong_.

"I...I almost...I...I killed him...I could've...I..." With a sparing glance at Kouji, Takuya's eyes suddenly glazed over. Izumi and Junpei saw what was going to happen as Tomoki gave a startled cry when Takuya's body slumped forward so that it leaned completely against Tomoki, who struggled to keep Takuya's limp form from hitting the ground completely.

Junpei left Izumi with Kouji, to help Tomoki with Takuya.

"H-he's okay, right Junpei? Right?" Tomoki asked, his voice wavering. Junpei only shook his head though as he managed to make it so that he could carry Takuya over to where Izumi and Kouji were.

"I don't know squirt, I...I don't know." He whispered, and Izumi glanced over at where Bokomon and Neemon were slowly making their way toward the Digi Destined from their hiding spot, concern and admiration shining in Bokomon's eyes as he glanced from Takuya to Kouji.

"Bokomon...do you know what's wrong?"

He looked a bit startled at Izumi's soft question, but he sighed.

"I'm not sure. I have the feeling that Takuya's passed out from the shock of all that's happened. Apparently it's not _easy_ getting control of your beast spirit, from what we have seen with Kouji and now Takuya. It seems to drain you...all we can do is let Takuya rest. As for Kouji...we've just got to look after him the best way we can until we can find a healer." Izumi sighed, glancing down at the two unconscious lovers.

She was starting to understand what Takuya had meant earlier when he said that Kouji was always the one who went to the healers lately, whenever they found one. But at least this time, he'd have some company.

She only hoped that they'd get to a healer soon...and prayed that both of her friends would be okay until they did...

TBC

Ending Note: More fluffy Takouji moments coming in the next chapter, I promise! I know there might be some grammar errors in here, I think I caught them all but I'm not sure...if anyone sees anything **majorly** wrong (but I doubt there is!), will you let me know in a review and I'll try to fix it when I can? Thankies!


	19. Uncertainties

Disclaimer: Nope...I'm still writing this fic, so therefore I don't own em...sighs

Author's Notes: I'm _so_ sorry for how long it took me to get this chapter out...and I _do_ hate making excuses, as all of us know how busy life can get. Anyway, I actually made a special trip to the library for you guys so I can update all my stuff as I don't have the internet at my place at the moment starts to whimper I'm so internet deprived...seriously, today I'm going to be saving all the fics that I possibly can get a hold of and storing them on my comp upstairs so that way I can read them and have a bountiful of them so I don't get too fic deprived... sighs So for those of you whose fics that I normally review on a constant basis whenever they're updated, I do apologize for that...hopefully when I get my net connection back up and running again with a new service, I'll be able to catch up in reviews and other such wonderful things that the internet provides us with... sniffs sadly So, anyway, enough of my sad sob story and let's get on with the story shall we? As that's what you all came in here to read, right? winks

Rating: R (Yes, I know I completely upped the rating on this, but it's for my own personal safety measures if you guys look back a chapter or two you'll see what I mean ...as I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about and I don't want to get into trouble with anyone.)

Warning: If you've gotten this far without managing to figure out that it's Takouji-therefore meaning slash/yaoi-than I'm assuming that you have no problems with that kind of stuff once so ever. However, once again just to be safe if you _don't_ like that kind of stuff, than hit the back button and forever hold your peace.

Pairings: Takuya/Kouji

Time Setting: AU rewrite of season 04

**Different Journeys**

**Author: Angel Spirit**

**Chapter 20: Uncertainties **

Izumi had never felt so tired in her life. She wasn't quite sure what was wrong with her, but she knew that she couldn't hold onto Kazamon's form any longer. Glancing down at the sleeping form in her arms, she realized that if she didn't want to drop him, then she'd better descend. Beetlemon was already carrying Takuya, and they were _so_ close to the Digital Village...but she knew that he was also tired and doubted that he could carry both Takuya and Kouji.

Before she realized what was happening, she'd dropped a few feet, and gasped in surprise-almost loosing her hold on Kouji. Beetlemon, having heard and seen what was going on, came closer to her.

"Is everything alright Z?" He asked, and Izumi shook her head.

"No...everything _isn't_ alright...I...I need to land, I can't hold onto Kazamon's powers much longer Junpei..." Junpei had no clue just how close to fainting Izumi was feeling at the moment, but he knew how tired she was-he also carried Bokomon, Neemon, and Tomoki on his back as well.

So he followed her down to the ground where she all but nearly crash landed, still somehow managing to keep a tight grip on Kouji so not to jostle him or disturb him as Kazamon disappeared-leaving behind a devastated Izumi.

By the time that Junpei had managed to devolve from Beetlemon and thoroughly wake up Tomoki as he asked him to look after Takuya, Izumi was on the ground, Kouji still clutched tightly in her grasp-it wasn't hard to hear the soft sobs that came as she buried her face into Kouji's bandana.

"Z? What's wrong?" Junpei felt worried about his friend as he went over and placed a gentle hand onto her shoulder, and gasped when she looked up at him with watery eyes and a trembling lip, looking very much like a lost child.

"I...I can't feel Kazamon's spirit anymore...it's...it's like she's vanished-gone...oh Junpei..." And with that she collapsed into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably into them as Junpei could only slowly piece together what was happening as he glanced over at Bokomon for questions who walked up to them and put a gentle hand on Izumi's head, trying to calm her. He knew what was going on-and she wasn't going to like what he had to tell her.

"Izumi...I was even amazed that you were able to still evolve into Kazamon once Grumblemon took your spirit..." He murmured gently and both teens stiffened at this. It was almost as though they'd completely forgotten that Grumblemon had taken Izumi's spirit. And with all that was going on lately, it was a wonder that they _hadn't_.

Junpei growled low in his throat as Izumi choked on a sob, her tears suddenly turning into anger.

"I almost forgot...Grumblemon...damn him..." She murmured as she pulled herself away from Junpei and angrily wiped the tears away from the back of her hand.

The brunette in front of her frowned but it was barely recognizable as one-he felt a bit dismayed when Izumi had pulled back. He realized that he enjoyed the close comfort that he had had with her for those few precious minutes. And he was starting to wonder if he was liking Izumi for more than just a friend...

"So why was she still able to spirit evolve, even though Grumblemon has her spirit?" Tomoki asked, puzzled over the fact that Bokomon had yet to fully explain.

"I'm not sure Tomoki, I'm assuming though that she was able to still digivolve because she had the determination and courage within her to keep on fighting. However, I think she must've completely depleted any energy that she had left within her from Kazamon, and until we get the wind spirit back to Izumi, then she probably will no longer be able to evolve." Izumi sighed and hung her head so that her hair hid her face and the troubled look in her eyes.

"Then that's it, huh? I'm officially of no use to you guys..." This time when Junpei frowned, everyone saw it as he gently gripped her by the shoulders and gave her a slight shake, causing her to gasp and look up.

"Stop talking like that! That's not the Izumi _I_ know! The Izumi that I know would continue to fight to get her spirit back no matter _what_! Do you understand me?" Izumi nodded, a small smile appearing on her lips as the anger she felt drained away and turned into sheer determination.

"Right...thanks Junpei, I needed that...now what do you say to getting to that village so that way Takuya and Kouji can get the care that they need?" Junpei nodded, glad to have the old Izumi back once again and gently placed Takuya onto his back so that he was carrying him that way instead of the old bridal fashioned way as he had when they had been climbing those long treacherous steps to the Underground City. At least this time they weren't walking _down_ stairs...all they had was a path that they needed to follow. One that would lead them directly to the village.

"Do you need help with Kouji, Z?" Junpei murmured, as Izumi shook her head and held back a giggle.

"No, he's really light...I think he needs to eat more!" They both chuckled at this as Tomoki went to help Izumi the best way he could, and they set off, noticing the glorious sun rise as they continued to trek along the well used path before them...

* * *

He wasn't exactly sure what time it was when he first woke. All he knew was that he was _warm_...and that he couldn't see. It was so dark... 

Panic began to consume him as he felt his body start to thrash around, his uncertain mind trying to figure out exactly where he was and what was happening to him. The last thing he could remember, was Takuya gaining control of his Beast Spirit...and now he wasn't even sure what happened to Takuya. Or what had happened to _himself_ for that matter.

His panic slowly began to lessen...especially when he heard a soft, familiar voice telling him that everything was going to be alright. That he was being well taken care of, and to just rest and not worry...but the best thing of all that that soft, familiar voice told him was that Takuya was alright.

And something made him believe in that familiar voice. As the reassurance that Takuya was alright slowly started to filter through his panic-stricken mind, he found himself falling back asleep once more into the dark warmth that surrounded him...

* * *

When Kouji had started to react to his surroundings, no one was sure what to do. It was Izumi finally, who had started to slowly talk to him-telling him that he was alright, that he was being cared for...and that Takuya was alright. She continued to softly murmur this until the healer in charge of Kouji told them that he was asleep once more-this time _truly_ asleep-not unconscious or having been put to sleep by some kind of medication. 

She heard Junpei sigh behind her and watched out of the corner of her eyes as he gently shook his head. Tomoki was off in the room that the villagers had been so kind to give them, fast asleep. And while she knew that Junpei-and herself as well-were just as tired as he was, they weren't going to leave until they were _positive_ that their friends were going to be alright.

It was quite a sight to see actually-and yet it horrified Izumi at the same time. The population of the village that they had found was small, but made out of a variety of different Digimon. So exotic, that Junpei, Izumi, and Tomoki had never seen before-and others who were just your basic average Digimon.

At the sight of the chosen children the 'elderly' Digimon of the village had instantly come to welcome them-having already heard tales of the wonders that the Digi Destined had already done for the Digital World, and the mission that they still had yet to accomplish, they were more than willing to have them stay. When they saw that Takuya and Kouji were still out of commission, they'd immediately rushed them to the healers...

Who were also known to the villagers as Mothmon-they used cocoons for healing purposes, transferring different types of energy into the one who was wounded or sick...depending on the status of the Digimon-or in this case, person-so as not to transfer the wrong type. The Mothmon in charge of Kouji had been quite surprised when he'd started to rouse the way he had, and hadn't known what to do. But she had been glad when Izumi had helped, calming Kouji enough so that he could continue to heal.

Izumi started when she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Junpei.

"One of the Mothmon told me that Takuya and Kouji are pretty much out of danger...they're just both in a healing sleep and they should stay that way for the rest of the day. They also told me that Takuya will be the first one to wake up, as he wasn't as badly hurt as Kouji was...even though Kouji wasn't hurt _that_ badly. I have the feeling they probably mean emotional damage more than bodily damage." He said, trying to lighten the mood a bit, and Izumi found a small smile caressing her lips as she nodded at him.

"I hope they'll be okay..." She murmured, and Junpei nodded as he put his hands on her shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze.

"They _will_ be okay Z! They've come out of worse messes than this one I believe...remember, we have no idea what these two went through before we all ran into each other. It'll be interesting to find out though...I have the feeling that their time here in the Digital World before we met up with them will probably have been rougher than our time. Remember, they were the one's who ran into Grumblemon first." Izumi shuddered, not really wanting to think about the evil Digimon who had her spirit at the moment.

"Come on Izumi, let's get some sleep-we won't be doing any good to Kouji _or_ Takuya if we fall asleep on them when they might need to count on us the most...and I'm sure that when they're both awake they're probably going to want to have some time to themselves anyway. Something tells me that they've got some things they're going to need to sort out between the two of them, without our help." The bearer of the spirit of wind looked up into Junpei's dark brown eyes, surprised at the understanding and kindness that showed in them.

She remembered that it hadn't been too long ago when she'd had to smack some sense into him when they had found out that Takuya and Kouji were together as a couple. And now...

Now it seemed like Junpei was changing into a completely different person-one that Izumi felt like she might want to get to know a bit better...and knew that she would. So in reply to what Junpei said, she offered him a small smile as she reached up and grabbed the hand that he had offered her and stood, swaying a bit as she realized just how tired she _really_ was.

Junpei chuckled softly as he allowed her to lean in against him and he guided her back to the hut where they'd left Tomoki. Not seeming to mind their closeness once so ever...in fact, it was just the opposite. If Izumi only knew that she was the first girl who Junpei had _true_ feelings for in a very long time...his first relationship with a girl hadn't been all that great, and neither had the second. So he'd decided that girls hadn't been worth his effort or time-Izumi however, was slowly starting to make him change his mind on that decision.

"There's two double beds here...I can sleep with Tomoki if you want one to yourself." Junpei murmured, knowing that Izumi liked her space. However, as he helped her down onto the mattress and started to head over to the other one; he was quite surprised when her hand reached out and gently grabbed his wrist. When he glanced down at her with a raised eyebrow, Izumi held a sheepish look on her face.

"I-I'm feeling a bit cold...and...and besides, Tomoki's also got Bokomon and Neemon sleeping on that mattress with him..." She nodded over to where Junpei had headed off too, and he gave a wry smile when he saw the three figures sprawled out all over what could've been called a queen sized mattress on Earth.

He let out a low chuckle, and shook his head as he looked at Izumi with a questioning glance in his eyes.

"Are you sure that it's okay? I mean...?" He wasn't sure what he meant, but he didn't want to ruin any chances he had with Izumi.

But when she nodded and patted the space next to her, Junpei smiled as he crawled onto the other side of the mattress-and was surprised yet again when Izumi rolled over and curled up next to him. She was asleep in an instant, and Junpei found himself closely following as he held her protectively close to him. Now he was starting to understand the protectiveness that Kouji had over Takuya-and vice a versa depending on the situation. If anything, he knew that Izumi was probably just uncertain of herself and her surroundings at the moment and he couldn't blame her.

She couldn't spirit evolve because the hideous Grumblemon had her Spirit, and after what had just happened with Takuya getting his own Beast Spirit and the condition that he and Kouji were now in...well...he could understand the fact that Izumi probably wanted someone close. And if that someone close was him, then he definitely didn't mind-not once so ever.

"I promise you Z, I'll get your spirit back to you...no matter _what_ it takes..." Junpei whispered as he gently stroked her cheek and she let out a soft sigh as he finally allowed his dark eyes to fall shut and drifted off into slumber...

* * *

(Quick AN: Hehe...sorry, couldn't help myself had to put some Junzumi stuff in here...my bad...so on with the Takoujiness as promised!) 

The bearer of fire softly groaned and slowly opened his eyes...feeling like he'd just been run over by something really big.

As his hazy vision slowly cleared, he wasn't quite sure what to think of his surroundings. He was in a low cave, a really well sheltered area...and there were cocoons that surrounded him in every which direction that he looked-all of various shapes and sizes.

Needless to say, Takuya was just a bit startled to look down at himself to find that he was in one of those many cocoons. Which, would explain the reason why he couldn't quite move his arms and legs...

He still felt a bit out of it when a strange Digimon approached him, and introduced himself as a 'Mothmon'...and Takuya gladly accepted his help out of the cocoon that held him as he stumbled out of it. He would've lost his balance if the moth-like Digimon hadn't helped him remain standing.

It felt awkward standing...almost as though he hadn't used his legs in a very long time. They were stiff and sore...as were his arms-and every other part of his body it felt like. Glancing up at the Digimon with questioning eyes, he laughed softly.

"Don't worry too much young one, you'll soon be back up on your feet again...you're still recovering from what happened to you. Now come, and I'll see to it that you're given a comfortable bed, and a bit more TLC." Takuya nodded, and started to follow the Mothmon, but not before his fog-filled mind told him to stop. He felt like he was forgetting something...

"Is everything alright?" The Mothmon called out to him as it turned around to face him to see what was keeping him.

Not being able to remember what it was he could be forgetting, Takuya shrugged and decided to continue following the Mothmon to the promises of a soft bed and more sleep...

* * *

"What do you _mean_ he woke up! And you didn't wake us when he did!?!" Izumi screeched as both Junpei and Tomoki covered their ears. They still had yet to get used to Izumi's screeching...which, she only seemed to do when she was very angry-like now for example. 

They'd woken up late one morning to find that Takuya had woken sometime during the night, and was sleeping quite peacefully in another room.

But even Junpei had to admit that it would've been nice if the Mothmon had actually done what they'd told him to do in the first place-and that was to come and wake them should Takuya _or_ Kouji waken.

All the Mothmon could do was shrug at Izumi, as though her screaming at him was accomplishing absolutely nothing-which, was probably quite true, as he seemed unaffected by the blonde's temper.

"How's Kouji doing?" Tomoki asked, finally speaking up as the Mothmon directed it's big dark eyes at him.

"He's still stable, but still asleep...he hasn't shown any signs of improvement, or consciousness." There was a touch of sadness in his voice, and the other's sighed.

"Might I interfere in this conversation?" The female Mothmon who had been looking after Kouji asked, and everyone nodded their heads at her as she gently cleared her throat and looked at her partner.

"You know, it's almost as though he's waiting for something...usually by now most of our patients would have wakened with the kind of treatment that we've given your friend." As the Digi Destined sat there lost in their own thoughts, the male Mothmon went out to check on Takuya...who was still fast asleep, huddled underneath a mass of blankets.

Making sure the brunette was sleeping peacefully, the Mothmon turned to leave but stopped at the doorway as he looked at Takuya for several seconds.

"I wonder..." The Mothmon murmured to himself as he headed back to where the chosen children were still standing, though the little one had managed to escape off to who knew where. But no one was too worried about him-there wasn't much trouble Tomoki could get into in a place like this.

In truth, Tomoki had actually followed the Mothmon to Takuya's room and was now sitting with him-waiting for him to wake up so he could see for himself that his 'big brother' was okay.

"Well, in any case will you _please_ remember to let us know when Kouji wakens?" Izumi murmured, coming out of her thoughtful trance as the female Mothmon nodded at her.

"I'll be glad to. You all look like you could use something to eat." Junpei nodded and slowly led Izumi, Bokomon, and a tired looking Neemon out-it was strange seeing Bokomon and Neemon acting as quietly as they were. Maybe they weren't too sure as to what to think of this situation either.

It was only when they got to the main eating area that Izumi realized that Tomoki was missing, but Bokomon cleared his throat and stopped her from getting too hysterical about the missing youth.

"I do believe I saw him go to where Takuya currently is-I don't think we need to worry about him too much, he pretty much knows his way around here like the rest of us do. I'm sure he'll come and find us when he's ready." Izumi sighed and nodded, feeling a bit depressed about the whole situation they were in as she headed to grab a plate, Junpei following her with a heavy sigh that could rival the one she had just displayed...

* * *

When Takuya woke again, Tomoki almost squealed with delight but instead allowed a large smile to appear on his face as he reached over to wrap Takuya in a tight hug-one that Takuya gratefully accepted. 

"Hey..." Tomoki's smile widened when Takuya ruffled his dark brown hair-something he'd missed.

"I'm glad you're feeling better." Tomoki told Takuya in such a serious voice, that Takuya had to blink for a moment.

"Oh...um...thanks. I still feel pretty out of it though...getting your Beast Spirit sure takes a lot out of you." Tomoki chuckled softly as Takuya admitted this, and would never admit to anyone that he himself was now a bit scared to get his Beast Spirit. He just hoped that he wouldn't go out of control as both Takuya and Kouji had done.

And speaking of Kouji...

Takuya's eyes seemed to widen at what he had just said as he remembered that someone else had said almost those same exact words when _they'd_ first gotten their Beast Spirit.

_Kouji_!

The thought rang through his mind as he sprang up out of bed, and almost crashed to the floor-as he still hadn't quite gained all his strength. He was just glad that Tomoki was as quick as he was and had reached out to steady Takuya before he had fallen completely.

"Thanks..." Takuya murmured as Tomoki nodded at him, giving him a strange look.

"You okay Takuya?" For Takuya had gotten quite pale when he'd realized that he hadn't had any idea as to what was going on with Kouji, or where his dark haired koi even _was_ at the moment.

"No...no, Tomoki, where's Kouji?!?" From the look on Tomoki's face, Takuya had the feeling that the news on his koi wasn't as good as he'd hoped that it would be.

"He's...still...healing..." Tomoki murmured, sending his eyes so that they were looking anywhere but into Takuya's worried dark brown orbs.

"I've got to see him!" He couldn't believe that he'd almost forgotten about Kouji. How _could_ he have?!?

Tomoki nodded and went to help Takuya stand as he wavered for a moment, realizing that he didn't quite have the strength to stand by himself. But he wasn't going to let that stop him from seeing his koi.

It took awhile-with Takuya stumbling even though Tomoki was trying his hardest to help him keep his balance, to trying to figure out where it was that Kouji was being held during his healing process.

The two boys finally ran into the female Mothmon who was in charge of Takuya's dark haired lover, and agreed to let him see him.

"It almost seems as though he's waiting for something." The Mothmon explained to Takuya, who nodded absently as he was slightly lost in his own thoughts. The moment he saw Kouji though, all he wanted to do was hold him in his arms...

Instead, he walked up to the cocoon and trailed the fingers of his right hand down the right side of Kouji's pale face, brushing away strands of fallen dark hair as he did so. From his own experience Takuya knew that Kouji was wearing next to nothing in the healing cocoon, and it made Takuya want him for his own even more.

Tears sprung up in his eyes as Takuya suddenly felt quite selfish. He'd _hurt_ Kouji...physically _and_ emotionally hurt him...and it hurt him as well to know that he'd been the one who had done this.

He wanted Kouji to wake up so he could tell him how sorry he was. He wished that he'd never gotten that damned Beast Spirit-than neither of them would be in this horrible predicament. He'd been nowhere this bad when Kouji had gotten _his_ Beast Spirit.

Takuya hadn't realized that the female Mothmon had left with Tomoki, as Tomoki had suddenly claimed that he was hungry, and the Mothmon had agreed to see to it that he got something to eat before joining up with Izumi, Junpei, Bokomon, and Neemon. In truth, Tomoki really _wasn't_ as hungry as he knew he should've been-he had more or less used it as an excuse to allow Takuya to have some time alone with the still healing Kouji.

Still feeling tired from his own healing process, Takuya sat down on the floor next to Kouji's healing cocoon, and placed a gentle hand on it as he slowly felt his eyes closing, feeling quite miserable.

* * *

Kouji wasn't really sure _what_ it was that had made him wake as he did. But suddenly something _felt_ different. Sure, he still felt exhausted, and his body ached with various pains...but he felt a presence near him that he hadn't felt in quite some time. 

He barely managed to turn his head a little bit to the left-into the direction of which he had felt the presence. And a small smile graced his lips as he saw Takuya lying against the cocoon that he was wrapped up within, one of his arms extended over the front part in a protective manner.

_So he's okay now_... Kouji thought tiredly, wishing that Takuya was awake so that they could talk...so that he could make sure that it was _really_ Takuya, and not just his imagination.

Feeling like he was ready to fall asleep any minute, Kouji was surprised that he was still awake when one of the strange Digimon that he'd seen before in his foggy, haze-filled sleep enter the room and look at him with a mixture of both surprise and kindness.

"You're awake! Your friend here will be very happy...how do you feel?" Kouji licked his lips, not sure if he could trust himself to speak or not.

"Horrible." He finally managed to struggle out, as the Mothmon nodded.

"Yes, I assume that you probably _would_ feel like that...however, lots of fluid and nutrients, as well as some natural rest will help you feel better." The Digimon called out into the darkness as another one of her kind appeared, and gently removed Takuya away as the Digimon from before released Kouji from his cocoon. He felt himself falling...

And then it suddenly all stopped as the kind-looking Digimon stopped him before he hit the floor, allowing a soft laughter to echo through the cave-like room they were in.

"I have forgotten that you humans do not regain your strength as quickly as Digimon do. The same thing happened with your friend over there...though...a part of me tells me that you two are more than friends?" Kouji blushed, but nodded as the Mothmon swept him up into her arms and carried him into a different part of the cave altogether. In fact, they weren't even _in_ the cave anymore...and Kouji _also_ noted that he wasn't wearing anything-and his blush deepened even more.

However, at the moment he was really too exhausted to protest...and he was still having a hard time keeping his eyes open. He couldn't even remember the way back to the cave that they'd come through, as they entered a small hallway that led into a room where Kouji found himself being gently deposited onto a large bed-big enough for two people. He was ever so happy to see his cloths folded neatly on a chair next to the bed-but felt too tired to get dressed.

The female Mothmon chuckled as she gently wrapped blankets about him, and told him not to worry.

"You'll get your energy and strength back soon enough." But as she turned to leave the room, Kouji managed to stay awake long enough to inquire about Takuya once more, and as she turned, she gave him a smile that reached her dark eyes.

"You should worry about yourself at the moment..." She said with another soft peal of laughter, and than slowly walked out.

"But I'm sure he'll find his way to you with no problems." Kouji wanted to protest and tell her that he needed to see Takuya _now_, that he wanted to be next to him _right then_...not later.

He knew he had drifted off to sleep rather quickly thereafter, and so he didn't see the same Mothmon enter the room once more-this time carrying a still-sleeping Takuya in her arms as she couldn't help but grin a bit more while she laid the brunette next to the other dark haired teen.

"I have the feeling that you two make quite a pair...sleep well." She murmured, as she left the room to go and check on the other legendary warriors...

TBC

End note: Wow, chapter 20... eyes start to glaze over ...I was bored at work one day so I just randomly started writing down possible chapter titles for the next several chapters that I've got plotted out...and I think this fic of mine is going to turn into an epic or something! sweat drops ...I'm being very serious when I say that this fic might possibly be more than over fifty chapters... twitches nervously ...I was kind of astounded when I figured it all out, but as long as you guys are more than happy reading this, then I will be more than happy to continue working on it! And once again, thanks so much for all of your reviews, they really do keep me going! A big hug and a thanks to all who have reviewed so far, and I definitely plan on a 'big thank you' note to those of you at the end of this fic...


	20. Nothing A Little Love Can't Cure

Disclaimer: The muses behind this fic would like to remind everyone that Angel Spirit does not own Digimon-just the plot of the fic.

Author's Notes:

Angel: Ummmmmmmm… (Glances around nervously and finds a nice hiding spot behind Takuya and Kouji)

Takuya: Um…and _why_ pray tell are you hiding _behind_ us?

Angel: Because-they're all going to kill me-the readers I mean!

Kouji: And why would that be, hmmm…?

Angel: Because, because… (Whimpers)

Takuya: Go on, admit it.

Angel: (Sobs) because I haven't updated this fic in so long! And I'm SO SORRY!

Takuya: Well, I'm sure they'll understand why you haven't updated if you explain it to them…

Angel: Uh…because I've been spending all my time on Forevermore and now Confessions?

Kouji: You just love to torture me, don't you?

Angel: Um… (Blushes)…yes?

Kouji: (Rolls eyes) go figure…and…you're going to be torturing me more in this fic too, aren't you?

Angel: SHUSH! (Places hand over Kouji's mouth) That's _supposed_ to be a _secret_!

Kouji: (glares)

Takuya: Heh, he never really was good at keeping secrets.

Kouji: I thought that was my twin, not me?

Angel: sighs…we're getting off the topic here. And yes Kouji, there is more torture in this for you.

Takuya: Awwwwwww…but I get to comfort him, right? RIGHT?

Angel: We'll see… (Mischievous smile)

Kouji: (Groans)…_GREAT_…as though you haven't tortured me enough in Forevermore _AND NOW_ Confessions too!

Angel: (Looking all innocent) who…me…? But it's just _too_ much fun! And this is getting rather long, don't you two think so?

Takuya: Yeah (Glances up at the top)…but…you're no longer sobbing and apologizing to everyone.

Angel: (Glances up as well) Hey…wow…ummm…maybe we should just stop here and allow everyone to read this long awaited _fluffy_ chapter?

Takuya/Kouji: FLUFF? FINALLY!

Angel: Yes… (Sighs) some fluffiness here for everyone since they all asked for it.

Takuya: (Cheers and starts chanting) I get some time with Kouji, I get some time with Kouji, I get some time with-

Angel: It's only for one chapter though.

Takuya/Kouji: (Groans)

Kouji: Then you're going back to torturing me again, huh?

Angel: Oh, but of course-and don't worry, Takuya will get his fair share of torture too!

Takuya: GAH! (Turns and glares at Kouji) THANKS!

Kouji: Don't mention it…now come here and kiss me already before the next chapter starts and it'll be all angsty again…

Angel: Okay…we're just…going to leave those two alone…and allow them to enjoy themselves, while you guys all get to enjoy this chapter…and don't forget to review! Just…no death threats for not updating as soon as I have…please? (Gives readers bigpuppy dog eyes)

Takuya: Uh, yeah, Kouji, we'd better move away from her now if we both want to stay intact (starts pulling Kouji away)

Angel: (Sobs) NOOOOOOOO! Come back, you're my shields, come baaaaaccccccccckkkkkkkkk! (Glances at readers and realizes people are still reading, grins sheepishly, and dashes off after Takuya and Kouji to write the next chapter…)

Rating: R (Really at the moment its pretty much PG13…but I'm keeping the overall fic 'R' for my own personal safety)

Warning: This fic contains slash/yaoi…if you're not a fan of male/male pairings do feel free to hit the wonderful back button to the top left of your page there…sighs…though…I'm almost _positive_ that most people know this by now…

Pairings: Takuya/Kouji (With Junpei/Izumi hints in this chapter)

Time Setting: AU/Rewrite of season 04 with said pairing above

Different Journeys 

Author: Angel Spirit

Chapter 21: Nothing A Little Love Can't Cure

He wasn't sure what time it was when he woke next…but he knew that _one_ thing was certain. That he was _very_ warm and comfortable. And really not wanting to be woken up quite yet…more sleep sounded like a _very_ good thing. He felt safe…

And as his breathing slowly evened out while he once again fell into another peaceful slumber, he failed to realize that the reason _why_ he felt so safe was because the 'pillow' that he had snuggled up to wasn't really a pillow at all. But a bare chest that belonged to no one else but Takuya Kanbara-who was also sleeping rather peacefully himself-having not wakened while his dark haired koi moved a little bit to find a more comfortable position…finding Takuya's strong arms wrapped around his lithe body, keeping him close…and refusing to let him go.

Smiling softly as he finally descended back into the much needed rest, Kouji felt Takuya's arms tighten about him a little more…as though promising silently to never let him go. And that was a promise that Kouji definitely wouldn't mind Takuya keeping…

It wasn't too much later from when Kouji had woken that Takuya also woke up, allowing his dark brown eyes to open slowly as he fought the yawn that managed to escape as he glanced down at the weight he felt on his upper chest.

Smiling softly, Takuya used his left hand to gently brush some dark strands of hair that had fallen into Kouji's face at one point during the previous night. His smile grew when he heard Kouji sigh in happy content as he snuggled up even closer to Takuya before becoming quiet and still once more, and Takuya hugged his dark haired koi close to him.

He still couldn't believe that he had almost forgotten about Kouji earlier. How could he _ever_ forget about his love? Kouji was the one person at the moment who meant the world to him-and Takuya didn't _ever_ want to think about living a life without him.

Gently stretching his still-sore muscles in slow motion so that he wouldn't disturb Kouji, he felt the presence of someone else in the room-and glanced up to see that it was one of the Mothmon who had been taking care of them…and he allowed another smile to grace his features.

"Hey…um…I think I need to thank you-for the other night I mean." Takuya murmured as he blushed, remembering the other night when the Mothmon had brought him here so that he could sleep and rest with Kouji instead of being in the original room that the healing Digimon had placed them in.

The Mothmon only smiled and shook it's head, and when it spoke, Takuya found out that it was the female who had come to check up on them.

"It was not a problem. Your friends told us that you two would probably recover quicker, and be happier together than apart. And now that you seem to be more awake and alert-how do you feel?" Truly thinking over the Mothmon's question for several minutes, Takuya glanced down at Kouji and sighed.

"I…I think I feel fine. I mean, better than…than before anyway. I just can't seem to remember what happened beforehand. And now I feel even guiltier because I almost forgot my own boyfriend…" Takuya murmured and the Mothmon nodded.

"Memory loss is to be expected after going through the healing process that you and your loved one there went through. However it's not permanent-only temporary, and so your memory shall return to you within a few days-have no fear." Nodding at her, Takuya glanced down and continued to watch Kouji sleep…glad that Kouji was finally healing and that no nightmares plagued the rest that he knew Kouji so desperately needed.

"Your friends have wanted to see you and make absolutely sure that you are both alright. Should I allow them to come in and check on you in awhile, or do you want some more time to yourself?" Thinking it over, Takuya allowed Kouji to shift slightly in his arms once again before he answered.

"I…actually, could we have a little bit more time to ourselves? I really want to talk to Kouji before we see the others, and I just think that overall Kouji would probably want some time alone with me." He finally decided, and the Mothmon nodded, respecting his reply as she checked him over quickly before turning to leave the room.

"Very well, I shall pass on your message-would you like to have something to eat?" Knowing that he _hadn't_ ate anything in quite awhile, Takuya nodded as he heard his stomach let out a low growl and the Mothmon chuckled as she heard it as well.

"I'll take _that_ as a yes my young legendary warrior. So I'll bring some food back for the both of you-your companion will need to eat as well." Nodding, Takuya watched the Mothmon go, wondering why she had never said either his or Kouji's names…and while Takuya knew that he hadn't officially introduced himself or Kouji to her, he had the feeling that she knew who they were from the others.

Snuggling further down into the covers and holding Kouji close once more, he wondered why it was he hadn't wanted the others to come in and see them-at least just to calm there worries so that they could see that they were finally alright and out of danger.

Was he being selfish in wanting Kouji for himself?

Probably…but, it felt like it had been so long since he'd gotten to spend some time alone with Kouji, and he had the feeling that after this alone time with his koi would probably be few and far in between.

Hearing Kouji murmur something in his sleep, he ran a gentle hand through Kouji's dark hair and Kouji calmed down-sensing Takuya's presence.

Making a small face as Takuya continued to brush Kouji's hair with his fingertips he realized that the two of them desperately needed to bathe and wondered if the Mothmon had some kind of bathing facilitates here…or at least somewhere where they could get some warm water and wash off _some_ of the dirt out of their skin and hair.

"I hope you wake up soon Kouji…" Takuya murmured, as he gently kissed Kouji's forehead and allowed his eyes to fall shut once again.

His dark blue gray eyes opened to see that he was cuddled up against Takuya's warm body, and he let out a small smile as he yawned and stretched, wincing a bit as he did.

Kouji's sudden movements brought Takuya out of the light slumber that he'd fallen into not too long ago, and he smiled happily when he noticed that Kouji's eyes were opened as well-and that his dark haired koi was the reason why he'd woken up.

"How do you feel?" Takuya whispered softly, and Kouji winced again as he rolled his shoulders around a couple of times, feeling a sharp pain as he felt how knotted and stiff his muscles really were.

"A little…sore." This caused Takuya to raise an eyebrow sending Kouji a look that clearly said that the brunette didn't believe him once so ever, and Kouji shook his head in amusement.

"I can't fool you, can I?" He whispered, and Takuya grinned.

"Nope, you can't. If only because I know the feeling-I was pretty sore for awhile myself-still am actually, but probably not as bad as you are…" Takuya murmured, a look of sorrow in his eyes as Kouji caught it and frowned slightly.

"It's not your fault Takuya…" Kouji murmured, and Takuya shook his head.

"It _is_ my fault…I…I should've been able to control my beast spirit a lot better than what I did-I-I nearly hurt you, I…I nearly _killed_ you!" Dark brown eyes opened wide in horrid realization as he scrambled to get out of the bed-but was stopped when Kouji grabbed his wrist and held on tightly, causing Takuya to stumble a little bit so that his feet were barely touching the ground, his body still mostly on the soft bed that they'd been sleeping in for the past many hours.

Kouji shook his head so that his loose, slightly greasy hair swung back in forth with the motion as Takuya caught his dark blue gray eyes with his own brown ones-and gasped at the intense look that he saw in them.

"Don't…you…_dare_…leave." He declared, his voice holding a slight edge of fiery determination in it, and Takuya sighed as he bowed his head so that he was looking down at the floor.

He didn't know how Kouji even wanted to _be_ with him now…he'd almost _killed_ him…killed his own lover because he hadn't been able to control his beast spirit as easily as he should have. He'd been so…so…_stupid_.

"I-you shouldn't even want to be in the same _room_ with me." Takuya whispered, and was quite shocked when he suddenly found Kouji's lips upon his own.

He moaned softly into the kiss and he deepened it-wrapping his arms around him as the two teens scooted along the bed, until Kouji felt his head hit the pillow and Takuya was lightly pinning him to the bed as they shared kiss, after kiss.

Eventually Takuya's senses-and mind-came back to the present and what was really going on, and he broke off their kisses for breath, his dark brown eyes searching Kouji's own orbs which showed a mixture of emotions that it was hard to read what was going through Kouji's mind at the moment.

And Takuya realized that this was one of the first few times that Kouji had actually allowed his guard to be fully loose and unshielded…that this was the _real_ Kouji that he was seeing.

"Takuya-I know…that you'd _never_ hurt me. Whatever happened back there-that _wasn't_ _you_. I _know_, okay? Remember, I went through the _same_ thing. It hurts…god it hurts…but…you forgave me…and I forgive you. Takuya, I _love_ you, okay? I _want_ you here with me…I _want_ to be with _you_. And _no_ one else…and I'm not going to let anyone or anything destroy what we've got…" Takuya sighed and buried his head in Kouji's neck as he gently kissed it, and Kouji sighed in sweet content.

"Promise me that you'll never leave me Takuya…I…I don't think that I could stand that." Kouji admitted softly, as he moaned lightly at the soft kisses that Takuya was trailing up and down his neck as Takuya nodded.

"I promise you. I'll _never_ leave you-not by choice anyway-but I'll _always_, _always_, come back to you…gods Kouji…" Takuya breathed as he stopped for a moment to stare into Kouji's dark blue gray eyes, finding himself lost in them. Unable to resist any longer, Kouji sat up slightly enough so that his lips brushed against Takuya's own, and they started kissing again…

They had lost track of time, and had no idea how long that they'd been caressing and kissing one another until a soft giggle from the doorway and a small groan caused them to stop as Kouji sighed and shook his head while Takuya looked at the doorway to glare at the other Chosen Children.

"You guys just had to choose _now_ to check up on us, didn't you?" Takuya threatened with good nature as Izumi let out a soft giggle while Tomoki grinned-he'd been the first one giggling. Junpei was politely adverting his gaze-but even he had to admit that it was nice seeing Takuya and Kouji looking well again.

"We brought you some food!" Tomoki exclaimed as Junpei remembered the trays that he and Izumi were holding and they waited a couple of minutes while both Takuya and Kouji made themselves a bit more decent before they entered the room the rest of the way.

"It's good to see you sitting up Kouji…" Izumi murmured, as Kouji blushed slightly and nodded at her as he accepted the tray she gave him while Takuya accepted his own from Junpei, his stomach growling slightly and he chuckled.

"I was wondering why it had taken the Mothmon so long to bring us back some food." He said, and Junpei grinned.

"Yeah, well, she said that you and Kouji were…um…a little on the…busy side? So she thought that it was best to wait and when we found out that you guys were finally awake, we agreed to bring the food in to you." Kouji nodded at Junpei's exclamation, as he slowly ate his soup…the hot liquid feeling a bit foreign in his stomach as he realized just how long it had been since he'd really ate anything and glad that the soup was really just a broth.

Takuya himself ate with content-allowing the food to fill his empty stomach. It had been awhile since he'd had a good meal, and the food tasted good. He'd only hoped that the other's had gotten fed as well…and when he glanced at Izumi questioningly, she nodded.

"The Mothmon have been taking very good care of us Takuya-making sure we get enough to eat, and enough rest as well. They've healed pretty much any injuries that we sustained over the past many days…" She allowed her voice to trail off as Junpei reached over and pulled her close to him, giving her a gentle hug.

"But they can't heal what's not here…" Junpei murmured softly, and Izumi nodded into his chest as he shared a look with Takuya, who knew what they were talking about.

Izumi was still not happy that her spirit had been taken away…but then again, Takuya knew that he would probably be feeling as forlorn as she was at the moment.

"Izumi-we'll get your spirit back-I promise." Takuya whispered, trying to console his upset friend the best way that he could as Izumi nodded.

Kouji sat next to Takuya, taking this all in as he secretly agreed with what Takuya had said. Their next mission would be to get Izumi's spirit back-and he had the feeling that no one would argue with that.

However…that would have to wait…

For the moment, Kouji had the feeling that his own _personal_ mission, would be to keep the food that he'd just ate down…and…his stomach didn't feel like succeeding at the moment…

Minutes later found Kouji lying on his stomach, his face buried into the pillow as Takuya spoke soothing words to him as he gently rubbed his back.

The other's had left shortly after Kouji's rebellious stomach had pretty much emptied itself of the broth that he had just had…

And now felt absolutely miserable. He felt nauseated and his throat was dry…while Takuya's back rub _did_ help, the nausea still wouldn't go away…and he found himself clutching tightly into his pillow as he moaned softly into it.

A Mothmon approached-the same one as before-and while Kouji hadn't heard her, Takuya had and glanced up…a look of worry and concern evident in his eyes.

"He wasn't able to keep down the food…" Takuya murmured, and the Mothmon nodded as she knelt down to get a better look at Kouji, who only buried his face deeper into the pillow.

"It's understandable. Sometimes after a healing process it takes awhile for one's stomach to build up the nutrients it needs in order to keep down solid food and liquids-he'll get better with time." She whispered softly as she reached out a clawed hand and gently stroke Kouji's hair.

Kouji's tense body seemed to unwind a bit at the soft touch, and he sighed a little bit. Watching the Mothmon consoling Kouji reminded Takuya of what he had been meaning to ask her.

"Hey, I was wondering…is there anyway that Kouji and I could bathe? I'm sure that would help him feel a lot better…and I'm surprised that from the way I'm starting to smell that I haven't chased anyone off yet." The Mothmon laughed softly, the laughter reaching into her dark eyes. She seemed to appreciate Takuya's light and playful humor.

"Of course young one, you can use the hot springs that aren't very far from here…would you like to bathe now? I can lead you to them-or one of your friends could if you wished." Takuya-at the moment-didn't care _who_ lead them as long as they were able to feel clean again. He was sure that Kouji agreed with him.

"Hey…Kouji…you want a bath?" Kouji turned his head slightly at Takuya's question as Takuya's hand replaced the Mothmon's while it gently stroked his dirty hair, and Kouji nodded letting out a sigh.

"Yeah…sounds good. I hate it when my hair's this dirty." Takuya nodded back, and chuckled softly.

"I'll agree with you on that one." A ghost of a smile appeared on Kouji's chapped lips as Takuya signaled the Mothmon that they were pretty much ready to go.

Knowing that Kouji hadn't quite walked yet, Takuya scooted out of the bed and as soon as he was standing, turned and gently scooped Kouji up into his arms…who glared at him and was about to open his mouth to protest when Takuya shook his head.

"No, don't argue with me. I still feel plenty guilty about all of this…at least…allow me to take care of you so maybe some of my guilt can go away." Kouji opened his mouth to say something but Takuya shook his head, cutting him off as he started to move-following the Mothmon down the hallway-which looked very much like they were surrounded by cave walls…in which cases, they probably were.

"Please Kouji…I _want_ to take care of you-at least this once." He whispered softly, and when he saw the look in Takuya's eyes, Kouji gave in.

He didn't blame Takuya for what happened one bit…and Kouji had meant what he had said to him earlier. But if it would make Takuya feel better if he allowed the brunette to take care of him…then so be it.

Besides…even Kouji had to admit…that it was nice to be taken care of for once. It was something he hadn't experienced in…well…quite a long time.

They got to the bathing area and the Mothmon left them a few towels before departing again-saying that she'd come back to get them in awhile.

As soon as the Digimon had left, the two boys grinned at each other as Takuya removed his shirt first, frowning at it.

"Man…I don't think I'll ever complain about how my mom does laundry again…" He murmured, and Kouji chuckled as he went to remove his own shirt and softly groaned. Takuya, hearing his small whimpers of pain, moved over and helped him out of the yellow and blue shirt-his light windbreaker had been left back with the others. Getting an idea, he ran a gentle hand up Kouji's back, causing the other to shiver-more from anticipation then the cold as Takuya gently started to rub his shoulders.

Kouji moaned softly and leaned into the relaxing message that Takuya was giving him, and Takuya grinned.

"Better?" He whispered, and Kouji nodded as he rolled his shoulders a bit underneath Takuya's touch. He smiled when Takuya lightly kissed his neck as he paused for a moment during his massage to ran a hand through his grimy hair.

"What do you say to getting cleaned up…and then I'll continue the massage latter?" To this idea, Kouji agreed as he allowed Takuya to lead him to the edge of the hot spring, where they finished undressing and eased themselves into the incredibly warm water minutes later.

Kouji closed his eyes, and Takuya could've sworn that his koi almost purred with delight as the warm water eased the tension and ache in the dark haired teens muscles.

Easing himself behind Kouji, he prodded the other lightly in the back.

"Want me to help you wash your hair?" He murmured into his ear, and Kouji nodded.

"Yes please…" Undoing the tie that was doing it's best to still keep Kouji's hair up (and failing quite miserably), Takuya watched as the raven locks fell a little past Kouji's shoulders.

"You know, I didn't think that your hair was _this_ long." Takuya commented, and Kouji chuckled softly.

"One of the plus sides of keeping it up in a ponytail all the time-very few people know it's as long as this." Takuya grinned.

"Let me guess-your mom, your dad, and…me?" As soon as Takuya said this, something changed in Kouji as he tensed up and practically fell out of Takuya's reached. It startled Takuya-he could practically _feel_ the change in Kouji's demeanor, and he wondered what he'd done wrong…

"Kouji…what…?" Kouji's dark blue gray eyes were the stormiest that Takuya had seen in a long time. It made Takuya realize just how much Kouji had opened up to him since they first arrived in the Digital World.

"_Never_, _ever_…mention her again." The dark haired teen before him whispered, panting heavily as though he'd just woken from a nightmare. Takuya's eyes filled with concern as he neared his koi, hoping to calm him down-no such luck. Kouji walked back a few steps, and glared at Takuya-and the brunette instantly took the hint. Kouji was obviously very pissed off at something that Takuya had done…or…was it something that he had _said_?

"Kouji…please…tell me what I've done to offend you…I…I won't know until you _tell_ me." He whispered, and Kouji shook his head, as he lowered it so that way Takuya couldn't see his face.

Kouji didn't want Takuya seeing the tears that were threatening to fall. He had yet to cry in front of Takuya-and he didn't want to really do so now. But…Takuya had brought up a touchy subject. And he was right-he had every right to know what he'd done wrong.

"Kouji…_please_…?" Takuya was begging. Kouji hated beggars…he sighed and shook his head.

"You-you couldn't have known Takuya, there was now way you _could've_ known." It was easy to see that Kouji was fighting an inner battle with himself, and Takuya stayed quiet. He wanted Kouji to know that he could tell him _anything_…anything at all.

"You can trust me Kouji." The brunette whispered softly, and Kouji nodded-before flinging himself at Takuya and suppressing a sob as he buried his head in Takuya's right shoulder. All Takuya could do, was stand there and hold him…

It was awhile before Kouji calmed down enough to pull out of Takuya's embrace and wipe the rest of his tears away.

"Want to talk?" Takuya murmured softly, and Kouji sighed as he nodded and threw Takuya a small smirk.

"Just do me one favor?" He asked, and Takuya nodded.

"Sure."

"Don't you _dare_ tell anyone what just happened; I don't need them thinking that I'm some kind of big cry baby or something." Snorting softly, Takuya shook his head as Kouji grinned softly at him and waded out of the warm water, finally feeling clean.

"You think that I would?" Takuya whispered into his ear as he helped Kouji out of the water and then followed shortly thereafter, handing him a towel and Kouji blushed.

"No…I don't." He replied, his dark blue gray eyes looking up into Takuya's and he could see the sincerity that lay with Kouji's answer.

"Hey look…clean clothes." The brunette pointed out, surprise written on his face as Kouji noticed their clothes as well-neatly folded…and indeed clean.

"They must've done it while we were in the spring…we weren't in there for that long, were we?" Kouji asked, lifting an eyebrow as Takuya shrugged.

"Don't know, don't care…" He was going to say something else when his stomach growled, and Kouji chuckled as he pulled his shirt over his head, smoothing it down before reaching for his pants.

"Someone sounds a little hungry!" At Kouji's exclamation, Takuya blushed slightly as he tried to stop his stomach from growling-but to no avail. So instead, he only shrugged and gave Kouji a sly grin as his blush faded.

"Yeah, well…considering the fact, that I've been too busy taking care of _you_ love, I haven't really had _time_ to eat." He said, remembering the incident during their last meal a few short hours ago, and missed Kouji's hand by inches as he had aimed to smack him in the head, and Takuya playfully stuck his tongue out. Kouji chuckled.

"Better stick that tongue back where it belongs Takuya, or I'm bound to find a good use for it…" He whispered as he grinned seductively at the brunette and motioned Takuya to follow him-for he had finished dressing first. Takuya yelped, and struggled to finish putting on his own pants as he quickly dashed out of the room to follow Kouji.

With Kouji in the mood that he was in, Takuya knew that he was bound to have a _very_ good night…a very good night indeed.

However, they needed to discuss some things first…like what he had said earlier that had gotten Kouji so upset. He wanted to know so that way he wouldn't say it again. However…maybe they could talk in the morning…

"Takuya?" Kouji murmured, as he turned around to see the mischievous grin that the goggle-wearing brunette had on his face, one that reached his dark brown eyes and caused them to sparkle, and Kouji couldn't help but smile. It had been awhile since he'd seen Takuya's eyes looking like that.

"Are you okay…? What are you thinking in that head of yours?" Takuya shook his head at Kouji's questions, the playful aura still surrounding him as he reached over suddenly and picked Kouji up; carrying him bridal style through the corridors. He wasn't sure how, but somehow he seemed to know his way around this place-either that, or he just remembered the path that the Mothmon had lead them through earlier.

Kouji yelped in surprise, as Takuya had suddenly quite gracefully swept him off of his feet, and started carrying him. He struggled-but only temporarily before he realized how tired he still felt, and then made himself more comfortable, and Takuya chuckled.

"Comfy much?" He murmured, kissing his koi softly on the lips-to which Kouji responded to almost at once, deepening the kiss before they broke it off when they reached the room to find another tray of food waiting for them. Takuya grinned as he set Kouji down on the bed.

"Someone read our minds." The raven haired teen commented, and Takuya nodded happily.

"Oh yes…" Finally giving into his stomach's demands once again, he started in on the rice as Kouji made a face and took the mug holding more of the same broth from earlier. He no longer felt as queasy…but…he still wanted to be on the safe side.

He finished the broth before Takuya finished eating his meal, and he looked up to fing Takuya glancing questioningly at him with nothing but love and concern in his brown eyes; as they both remembered what had happened the last time Kouji had gotten some food in his system.

Kouji shook his head, a small smile on his face.

"I think it's going to stay down this time." He murmured, as he leaned forward for a kiss and Takuya shared it, he would've smiled if he and Kouji weren't so preoccupied in their kiss.

"Mph…need…to…breathe…" Kouji murmured, finally breaking the kiss as Takuya grinned and shook his head.

"No you don't." He whispered back, kissing Kouji once more-as his koi responded back just as eagerly-as the two fell against the bed…

When Izumi went to check on the two later, she stood in the doorway, a soft smile on her face as she saw Takuya and Kouji cuddled up in each other's arms.

Junpei joined her several minutes later, wondering where she had gone off too-after having checked to make sure that Tomoki was asleep, along with Bokomon and Neemon-and grinned as he put an arm around her shoulder. Izumi-surprising herself-leaned into Junpei's touch…savoring the comfort that he offered her.

"I think those two are going to be _just_ fine." Izumi whispered, and Junpei nodded.

"What do you say we take a page out of their book though?" He whispered back, and at Izumi's questioning glance, Junpei chuckled as he gestured to the sleeping pair.

"Let's get some shuteye ourselves…chances of Takuya and Kouji being on the speedy way to a full recovery is pretty good-at least from what the Mothmon said…which, means that we'll be on the road soon." Junpei said as he guided Izumi away from the doorway and Izumi groaned.

"I know…which means no more comfortable beds…" She whimpered, as Junpei had to nod his head in agreement. The beds had _definitely_ been a nice plus side to staying in the Mothmon's underground lair.

"So let's take advantage of what we've got tonight before it's gone-we can see Takuya and Kouji later on in the morning when they're awake and see if they're up to leaving the day after tomorrow-we should get going." Izumi nodded.

"You sound so eager to get moving…" She added, sending a suspicious look in Junpei's direction as he shrugged. Though as Izumi continued to look at him while they continued their way back to the rooms that they'd claimed as their own during their stay, he sighed and gave in.

"Fine…I…I promised you that I'd get you your spirit back Izumi, and that's a promise I plan to keep. But I can't do it while we're staying here." The blonde teen gave Junpei a soft smile as they stopped at their doorway and she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a soft peck on the cheek.

To which Junpei started blushing like crazy as he held a hand up to the spot that she'd kissed.

"You're very sweet Junpei-a _true_ friend…and maybe something more." Izumi had whispered the last part, so that Junpei hadn't quite heard it as she'd turned to walk into the room with him following close behind. However, even though he hadn't heard the last bit, Junpei couldn't quite stop the silly grin that spread to his eyes and caused them to sparkle like the afternoon sun.

TBC

Angel: (Laughs gleefully) I DID IT! Chapter 21 is FINALLY HERE AND DONE! HAH! And I bet you all thought that I wouldn't do it, did you? (Winks)

Takuya: It's not that they _didn't_ think that you'd ever do it…but you have to admit that you _did_ leave everyone hanging for quite awhile there-you're not going to do it again anytime soon, are you?

Angel: (Sighs) I'll so desperately try _not_ to-now that I've got this chapter out of the way I can start advancing on the story plot a bit more…and trust me when I say that if you all like how this is going so far, you guys haven't seen _anything_ _yet_!

Kouji: (Nods) It's true…sighs…she's going to torture me _even more_… (Starts reading the script for the next few chapters)

Angel: HEY! Where did you get _that_? (Snatches said papers away)

Kouji: (Pouts) NO FAIR! I was _reading_ that!

Angel: You don't get to! You've got to wait like everyone else does!

Takuya: Hey Kouji, what _did_ you manage to read while you had your hands on that for those few precious minutes…?

Kouji: Well, it was just getting to the good part, you see-

Angel: NO! DON'T! You're NOT allowed to spoil it for everyone else! Now you be quiet before I do something drastic in this fic that even _you_ won't have seen coming.

Kouji: …

Angel: Good boy. Now go find something fun to do with Takuya while I go off to write the next chapter-and STAY out of TROUBLE!

Kouji: Which means no more script reading? (Pouts again)

Angel: (Sighs and shakes head) YES! It means NO MORE script reading.

Kouji: You're no fun.

Angel: I know-now go find Takuya before he gets himself into some kind of trouble that you've got to help save him from.

Kouji: Heh, I'm going, I'm going…I'm so unloved. (Sniffs)

Angel: You're so over dramatic Kouji, I don't know what I'm going to do with you.

Kouji: Blame it on yourself, for torturing me so much-but I'll _admit_ that this chapter _was_ a nice break…I think I _am_ going to go and find out where Takuya disappeared off too, and see if he wants to do any more of that kissing scene from earlier…(Grins and saunters off)

Angel: (Shakes head with amusement) Anyway, I'm really off to go and work on the next chapter…so; you all know what to do now… (Grins and wonders off to her own quiet little corner to start writing)


	21. Welcome To My NightmareptI

Disclaimer: The muses would like to remind everyone that Angel Spirit doesn't own Digimon…just the plot of the fic…

Author's Notes: Thanks guys for the reviews! **Hugs everyone**…I know it was a LONG time since I'd last updated, and it was nice to know that there are people still reading this fic! I appreciate you guys for being as patient as you all were, I really do! **Grins**…I can assure you all, that it won't take me as long to update again as I've got the plot down now for what I want to do for the next several chapters, so this fic will be updated more frequently now. I was also taking time off from it to work on Forevermore-and now since that fic is near completion, I'll be able to work harder on this fic and Confessions as well. For those of you who _are_ reading Forevermore, I'm stuck on it for the moment…for the most part the next chapter _is_ written up, but I'm working out the kinks from it…it just doesn't sound as good as I want it to be, so I'm improving it and making it better-hopefully sometime real soon I'll have that up and running for you guys to read…so that's what's going on with that fic. I just thought I'd let you all know what was up with that one there…

Some of you might be wondering exactly what it is I'm up to with this ongoing fic of mine…**gives readers evil grin** While I can't _tell_ you _exactly_ what I'm planning, let me just say that from here on out, things are going to _really_ start being _very_ different from that of the actual season 04 plot. Of course, this fic has to live up to its title, right? **Winks**. As I'm sure all of you have noticed, that the title for this chapter _is_ a title off of one of the episodes from season 04…"Welcome To My Nightmare"…it was a Tomoki based episode…however, in _this_ fic…I'm going to take that small plotline that they started with…and…twist it into something so much more…that's all I'm going to say here, as I don't want to spoil the next few chapters for everyone. This chapter will explain a little bit as to what's going to happen…and now I believe I shall depart so you guys can all have a good read, and I'm glad that everyone seemed to really enjoy the fluff in the last chapter! (And this angst author has to admit…even _she_ had fun writing it, and you all know how I like my angst…but, sometimes a little fluff here and there is all one needs for inspiration to continue…**winks**)

And I know that some people in their recent reviews were telling me that it was confusing since I'd switched from the English dubbed names to the Japanese ones…I do plan to eventually go back and change all of that. It'll be my next big project I think once I'm done with Forevermore, is to go back and revise all my older stuff. The other thing that I realized people were mentioning is that you guys seemed to want more from the whole Takouji relationship deal. While I don't write lemon (or lime, and probably never will, but I've got nothing against it as there are some awesome writer's out there who do a wonderful job with it) I'll try my hardest to give you guys a bit more!

Rating: PG-13

Warning: Slash/yaoi…male/male pairings abound…if you're not a fan of that or the pairings listed below, hit the wonderful back button to the top left of your page and run far away now…

Pairings: Takuya/Kouji with strong Junpei/Izumi hints scattered throughout (though that might change in the future…who knows…)

Time Setting: AU, rewrite of season 04 with everyone's favorite yaoi pairing…

**Different Journey's**

**Author: Angel Spirit**

**Chapter 22: Welcome to My Nightmare Pt I**

A few days later, saw Takuya and Kouji fit to travel again.

The two teens were standing with the others at the entrance to the Mothmon's healing facilities, saying their goodbyes. The Mothmon that had taken care of Takuya and Kouji told them to never hesitate to come again, should they require their healing services in the future…and the small group promised to do so if they were in the area.

Though they all knew deep down inside that they had to travel on.

So late in the morning, the five youths were on their way again. Junpei and Izumi surprisingly led the way, with Tomoki following closely behind…and Takuya and Kouji trailing along in the back, as Takuya wanted to stay with Kouji so that he could keep an eye on his raven haired koi.

Oh, he knew that for the most part, that Kouji was healed…and looking better than he had in days. But still…Takuya couldn't help but be a bit overprotective of Kouji with all that had happened recently. And who could blame him? Izumi sure didn't…she kept on glancing behind her every so often, and was fighting the urge to smile every time she saw Kouji leaning into Takuya for comfort, and the fact that they were holding hands just seemed to make everything feel so very right.

It sure didn't seem as though Kouji was afraid to show his affection for Takuya in front of the other's anymore.

And Izumi couldn't be happier. She was truly glad that Kouji was starting to be a bit more open-admittedly, he was more open to Takuya about his thoughts and feelings then any of them, but it _was_ a start.

In front of them, Bokomon and Neemon were bickering quietly between themselves, and every so often one could hear Bokomon snapping Neemon's pants…

Izumi sighed and shook her head. Well, for the _most_ part, they were all getting along…

They started out slowly, not wanting to exhaust Takuya or Kouji too quickly on their first day on the road. But at one point when Takuya encouraged them to pick up the pace Izumi, Junpei, and Tomoki did so willingly.

"You know, it's strange…there doesn't seem to be another village for miles…" Izumi commented softly, glancing about her as Junpei and the other's nodded in agreement with her assessment of their surroundings.

"It _is_ strange…seems like we're going to be camping out underneath the stars tonight." Takuya said brightly, and Izumi sighed as she quickly glanced back at Kouji. He _seemed_ fine…but she wouldn't be surprised if the raven haired teen was feeling at least a _little_ tired. It had been quite a long day-and at least the weather was pleasant. There wasn't a cloud in sight, and the sky had been a dazzling shade of blue, getting darker as the day soon turned into night.

The setting sun looked gorgeous as the first of the digital moons started to rise in the twilight sky.

They all knew that by the time the third moon rose, that they'd have to stop for the night-it would be too dark to travel. And from their past experiences so far, the Digimon that roamed the night were none to friendly.

At least if they stopped to rest and build a fire, the light from the fire would scare off anything that would think about attacking them…though, they _also_ had their spirits so they _could_ fight if need be. But the other nice thing about a fire was that it would bring them a little bit of warmth as well. Even though the day itself had been warm, it was starting to cool off quite a bit since the sun had set.

Izumi shivered and Junpei noticed, wishing that he had a coat or something that he could loan to Izumi.

Both were quite surprised when Izumi felt a gentle poke at her backside, and she turned-along with Junpei-to see that Kouji was holding out his windbreaker to her. She blushed in embarrassment, and glanced sideways at Junpei as she noticed the older teen frowning a little bit. Was Junpei jealous? Probably…but then again, the brunette knew that Izumi liked him…and that Kouji _was_ with Takuya. But still, Kouji's actions surprised her just as much as they did Junpei and Tomoki.

"Well, are you going to take it?" Kouji muttered, and Izumi snapped out of her trance and nodded as she gratefully accepted his windbreaker, putting it over her shirt and vest with a nod of thanks-which Kouji merely shrugged at as they continued on for a little while longer.

Izumi had to admit, Kouji's windbreaker _did_ help keep out the cold…she only hoped that Kouji wasn't cold in just the yellow and blue T-shirt that he was wearing…though, Izumi also noted that Kouji was walking a lot closer to Takuya than he had previously.

It wasn't too long before Takuya reached out a tanned arm, and placed it around Kouji's shoulders-drawing him close to him and Kouji found himself relishing in the warmth that radiated from his koi.

He knew that it wasn't the smartest thing in the world to have given Izumi his coat. But she had looked cold. _And besides_, he thought to himself _it's only out of sheer politeness…maybe…maybe friendship? Nah…_

Kouji didn't want to believe that he was slowly starting to befriend the others. If only because he'd been alone without friends for so long…

And now, since they'd come to the Digital World, he had a boyfriend…

But could it be true that he had finally found people his own age that he could finally, truly call friends? Unbeknownst to many people, friendship was important to Kouji…it always had been. He valued it just as much as any other person did…but he also found it hard to trust people as well. And who could blame him, with the numerous amount of times that his father had moved, and Kouji himself had transferred from school to school…

Friendship had almost become an unknown thing to him. He didn't make friends, because he didn't want to be even more emotionally hurt then he already was…but maybe, just maybe…

Kouji was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't quite realized that they'd stopped for the night, until Takuya gently squeezed one of his shoulders and he stopped with the rest of them to look around at the area they'd chosen for the night…frowning slightly.

If _only_ because the area was pretty out in the open…but at the moment, considering the fact that they'd been walking in open territory for most of the day. It was really their only option, still though…

It made him feel slightly uneasy.

Though, when Takuya's stomach growled in complaint of emptiness, any tension felt within the small group of travelers vanished as Tomoki and Izumi both giggled, and Takuya had the decency to blush a little bit as he put a hand on his stomach.

"Man…I'm not _that_ hungry!" He protested, and even Junpei joined in on the laughter as he gave Takuya a light pat on the shoulder.

"Sure Takky, _sure_…" Takuya found himself grinning at the nickname Junpei gave him, and Kouji only rolled his eyes slightly.

However, when Junpei's stomach started grumbling in its own complaint as well, it sent Takuya into a fit of laughter as Junpei's dark brown eyes opened wide in astonishment as he glanced down at his belly…and then proceeded to glare at it. Causing Izumi and Tomoki to laugh almost as hard-if not harder-then Takuya currently was…Tomoki was nearly rolling on the ground as the youth clutched his stomach and tried to catch his breath.

"Hey, you, you're _not_ supposed to _agree_ with _his_ stomach!" Junpei declared, entertaining the group slightly as he poked his belly, which grumbled in response once more and Junpei fought the urge to blush as he caught Izumi wiping away tears of laughter.

This kind of laughter, Junpei didn't mind…if only because he was now laughing _with_ the others-instead of having them laugh _at_ him. He had to admit, it was a _very_ nice change…

* * *

No one really noticed when Kouji started walking off on his own, feeling that heneeding some time to himself. He still wasn't used to spending large amounts of time with other people he couldn't quite trust. Even though he knew he _could_ trust Izumi, Junpei, and Tomoki by now, it still felt a little strange…

A part of him truly wished that they were wandering around in a forest or something instead of out in the open. At least if they were in a forest it would be an easier place for him to go off and hide for awhile and come back when he was ready.

For some reason, he was feeling a bit agitated tonight. He sensed danger…but as he looked around, he didn't see a single Digimon in sight for miles. All he saw was the vast grasslands that they'd been travelling through all day, and a blanket of stars above him that lit up the dark nighttime sky. It was just the five of them out here. So why was he feeling so edgy…?

It didn't take Takuya long to notice that his boyfriend had wandered off into the night, and he frowned in concern. He believed that they should all stay together. But then again, Takuya also realized that maybe Kouji might still feel uncomfortable around the others. It would make the most sense as to why his koi had gone off to be by himself…he probably felt like he needed some space.

That was one of the things that made him and Kouji complete opposites-while Takuya was more open to people and willing to trust, Kouji wasn't. It took awhile to crack open Kouji's shell that he had built so strongly around himself-Takuya knew that, as Kouji had admitted to him that he'd been the first person in years to succeed in doing so. The others had just barely tapped the surface…they only saw a small part of the Kouji that Takuya knew…

But then again, how could the others truly get to know Kouji as he had gotten to know him when they were either fighting an evil Digimon, running away from them; or healing from any injuries while _dealing_ with said evil Digimon?

Takuya sighed softly and shook his head, as he left the other three to their laughter as silently as Kouji had. And Takuya noted that as he walked quietly up to his koi that it seemed like the raven haired teen had something on his mind-he hadn't even turned around to greet him yet-and this caused Takuya to softly bite down on his lower lip in concern. Kouji was sensitive to his surroundings…_surely_ he would've heard Takuya coming up on him by _now_…something had to _seriously_ be bothering him.

"Kouji…?" For Kouji's part, he didn't jump when Takuya lightly placed his hand on his shoulder. Even though Kouji hated having to admit to himself that Takuya had actually startled him.

_What's wrong with me? Why am I feeling so **off** tonight…?_ Kouji wondered, and a few more moments of silence went by before he felt Takuya slowly start trailing kisses up and down his neck as his hands managed to find a way underneath his yellow and blue T-shirt…damn…he'd forgotten that Izumi still had his windbreaker.

Maybe he'd just let her have it for the night…

Besides, the alternative seemed to be better anyway…if he was cold he knew that Takuya would let him snuggle up next to him by the fire for the night-that was, if they could find any wood around them once so ever-and he could be warm that way.

Kouji smiled to himself…oh yes…Izumi could keep his coat.

"Are you okay Kouji?" The raven haired teen nodded at Takuya's question while he moaned softly as Takuya kept on kissing him gently, and Kouji turned around in his koi's arms and caught Takuya's lips with his own.

"I think I am now…" Kouji murmured, as he deepened their next kiss…and was rather dismayed when they had to break apart for air. Takuya grinned as his forehead pressed up against Kouji's own.

"You've wanted to do that all day, haven't you?" The brunette asked, and Kouji nodded with a small smile of his own.

"How could you tell?" All Takuya did was shrug as he turned around and held out his hand to Kouji-who grudgingly accepted it as it only meant one thing. Going back to the other's meant the end to their 'alone' time…and Kouji _liked_ their 'alone' time…

* * *

In the end, they hadn't found wood for a fire-and they hadn't found any food in the area as well. So they had ended up munching on some of the food that the Mothmon had given them before they'd left. They had to ration it, as they weren't sure when they'd find another source of food and water.

Takuya took a sip from his canteen as he glanced around the small circle that they'd all sat in.

Izumi was falling asleep…her head was resting on Junpei's shoulder, and he had his arm wrapped around her own shoulders, holding her close. Takuya had to smile-he admitted that Junpei and Izumi made a very cute couple. He wondered if Izumi felt more for Junpei then just friendship. On some days, it seemed like she did…and on others it looked like she didn't. Maybe she just wasn't sure…

Junpei himself seemed to be having a hard time staying awake, forcing his brandy brown eyes open every once in awhile. Tomoki had fallen asleep a long time ago, using his hat as a pillow for his head. Every so often the youth would murmur in his sleep and roll over into a different position as though he were trying to get comfortable. Though, Takuya doubted that any of them would find comfort in this place. He had to confess that he was starting to miss the comfort of the beds that the Mothmon had provided back in their healing quarters.

They'd been spoiled without realizing it.

Takuya's eyes wondered from Tomoki's restless figure over to where Kouji was…and smiled again as he gently shook his head when he saw that his koi had fallen asleep sitting up. It seemed like Neemon had taken a liking to Kouji's lap and had managed to somehow secure himself in it and was now curled up in a tight ball…Bokomon right next to him.

It made the brunette wonder how the two had managed to do that. Kouji wouldn't have let that happen in a million years if he'd been awake, but maybe at the moment he was just too tired to give a damn.

Sighing softly as he realized that the position that Kouji had fallen asleep in would only cause his body to be sore-and that he'd probably be even more tired in the morning; Takuya got up and stretched as he moved his koi, sitting down behind him as he gently pulled Kouji towards him.

As the sleeping teen moved, it jostled Neemon and Bokomon-both who glared at Takuya, who only shrugged an apology as he adjusted Kouji a bit more against him so that they were both comfortable. Hearing Kouji let out a soft sigh of happiness as he leaned up against his chest and used it for a pillow, Takuya nodded in satisfaction and gently ran his right hand through Kouji's ponytail.

It seemed as though everyone had decided to let him take the first watch for the night. That was fine with him, for some reason he didn't really feel as tired as he should have anyway. So he'd let the other's sleep for now.

Noticing that Junpei was still forcing himself to stay awake, Takuya chuckled softly.

"Hey, Junpei?" The teen in question gazed up to look into his eyes.

"Go ahead and get some sleep…I'll take first watch. I'll wake you in a couple of hours and you can take the next shift, and then Izumi…okay?" Junpei nodded and gave Takuya a grateful smile as he readjusted his and Izumi's positions before he finally allowed his eyes to close for the final time that night-at least, until Takuya woke him up for his shift…

True to his word, Takuya woke Junpei up some time later and the brunette awoke as soon as he touched his shoulder.

"Get enough sleep?" Takuya murmured, and Junpei shrugged as he glanced around the camp.

"Yeah, enough so that I can take my shift…get some sleep yourself Takky you look like you need it more than I do." All Takuya did was shrug as he headed back to where he'd left Kouji, and curled up with his koi once more. Kouji mumbled something inaudible as he turned over to face Takuya while the brunette wrapped his arms around him, and got comfortable once more.

Then his own eyes closed…and all was quiet…_too_ quiet…

* * *

Tomoki woke suddenly, unsure of _why_ it was that he had woken up or what had caused him to do so. But as he sat up, he suddenly felt that something wasn't quite right.

On the contrary…something was wrong…_very, very_ wrong.

Instead of the grasslands that he had fallen asleep in with the others-he was now standing in the middle of a _very_ dark forest. It was silent-no noise could be heard-and suddenly Tomoki felt very much alone.

Shivering a bit as he reached down and picked up his hat and placed it back on his head, he turned around and around a few times as he tried to figure out just _where_ he was…and why the other's weren't there with him anymore.

"Takuya…niichan…?" Tomoki called out, softly at first, and then a bit louder as he started to stumble around the unfamiliar territory that he knew he was lost in.

"TAKUYA? KOUJI?" It had felt like he'd been calling everyone's names out for hours, and still Tomoki hadn't gotten a response from any of them.

He felt his stomach tighten in fear, and he let out a soft whimper.

Why was he all alone? How could they just _leave_ him here…

But then again, Tomoki remembered that he was in the Digital World…and that nothing here was as it seemed. So it could very well be that the others _hadn't_ left him here, but that something had somehow happened to them while they were all asleep and now _he_ was here. So if _he_ was here _without_ the others…it made him wonder what happened to everyone else.

Were they in the same position that he was…? Stuck in this horribly dark and scary forest without any way out?

It felt to Tomoki, like he'd been going around in circles…everything all around him looked so much alike.

"Junpei…?" Tomoki whispered again, wrapping his arms around himself as he suddenly felt cold.

A strong breeze had suddenly come up and made the forest even colder than it already was. Tomoki suddenly jerked to a halt though, when he thought he had heard something in the wind. A voice…a whispering voice that sounded oddly familiar to him, causing the hairs on the back of his neck to rise each time the wind brushed across his hearing range…

"Welcome to my nightmare…"

* * *

Izumi found herself in the same position as Tomoki did-and wasn't exactly sure of what to think of her current situation. Wondering if any of the others were going through what she was going through.

It was cold…she was still glad that she had Kouji's windbreaker on, but at the same time she also felt bad. Because that meant that if Kouji was in the same place that she was-all he was wearing was his T-shirt and capri's…

He would probably be the most cold out of them all, having as little protection against the elements that he did.

"Why are you worried about _him_? Why aren't you worried about _me_?" The jealousy that roused in Junpei's voice caused Izumi to whirl around and come face to face with him. She hadn't heard him come so close to her until he had spoken up.

In all honesty, she felt a bit dumbfounded as to why Junpei sounded so jealous.

"Junpei…what…?" All the brunette did though, was snort in disbelief and cross his arms over his chest as he gave her a look of defiance.

"Here I go thinking that you actually _care_ about _me_…I should've known all you were doing was playing me for a fool!" Izumi gasped, as her hand flew to her mouth in shock. Junpei didn't really think that way about her…did he?

"Just like all those other guys who you probably play for fools, huh?" The petite blonde shook her head though, tears brimming in her eyes.

"No…Junpei, that's _not_ true! I _do_ care for you…maybe more than just a friend, I _don't know_! Things like this…take time…and we've got a _lot_ of time here in the Digital World! I want to get to know you better, I _do_!" She stammered, but Junpei shook his head-not looking as jealous anymore, just angry.

"Yeah right, I know the person you _really_ want to be with is Kouji. Too bad Kouji's with Takuya and you'll never have him…or have you forgotten that already? I thought you were cheering those two on." Izumi shook her head again.

"No Junpei, you don't understand…I _like_ the thought of Takuya and Kouji being together, I think they make a _really_ cute couple!" She insisted, and Junpei took a step back from her.

"Ha…then why are you so worried about whether or not Kouji's cold…?" Biting softly down on her lower lip, Izumi suddenly didn't know what to say…and yet…she did.

"Because I _do_ care about him Junpei-but I care about him as a _friend_. I haven't had very many friends…and then I came here and I met all of you…and…"

"And you played us just like you played everyone else in the past, huh Izumi?" Izumi gasped. What was Junpei talking about?

"I don't know what you mean Junpei, but if you're going to continue acting like this then I'm just going to ask you to leave me be!" Izumi had finally had enough…but it didn't seem like Junpei did, as he shook his head.

"I'm sorry Izumi, I don't think I can. I'm here to _remind_ you why you don't have any friends, why you _choose_ to not get close to anybody again." He whispered, and before Izumi could say anything in response, the scenery around them changed completely.

And suddenly they were standing in an alleyway…the heavy sound of techno-dance music playing nearby as the scents of Italy filled her nose. Izumi's bright blue eyes widened. She knew where she was…and she had hoped to never revisit this place ever again, she had hoped to forget about it entirely.

So why was she here _now_?

Izumi shivered as a sudden chill seemed to come over her…the wind was getting strong and suddenly all she wanted to do was run. But she seemed rooted in place.

"_Welcome to your nightmare…_" Junpei whispered into her ear, and as she turned around to reply-she gasped instead. For Junpei was no longer there. Just her, in a deserted alleyway…watching her own nightmare come to life once again before her eyes.

TBC

End note: Ugh, now looking at this I realize how short that this chapter is…but I'll make it up to you guys in the next chapter! It's just that if I continued on from here with what I'm planning this chapter is going to go on forever with no ending! But then again, you guys probably wouldn't mind that, would you? LOL! Don't forget to review and let me know what you think, and I'm working on the next chapter now so it'll be out soon! Oh, and did anyone else notice a famliar yet different scene in this chapter? Let's just say it all has to do with a certain coat...bwahahahahahaha...kudo's to Sailor Epyon for that one!


	22. Welcome To My NightmareptII

Disclaimer: The muses would like to remind everyone that Angel Spirit doesn't own Digimon…just the plot of the fic…

Author's Notes: Oh, this authoress feels **so very **evil at the moment…bwahahahahahahahahahaa…and I'm not even gonna tell you guys why…I'm just going to sit back, relax, and let you guys have fun and enjoy the read. Remember when I said awhile back, when I was just getting started on this fic that it was going to take a **completely** different turn at one point then the way it was on the actual anime itself? Wellllll…this is that **official** turning point ladies and gentlemen! The villains will pretty much be the same for the most part, but the plot itself will be changed drastically-and I do hope that it's to everyone's enjoyment as I know many of you have had a good time reading this so far. So as I said before, sit back, relax, and allow your imagination to go wild. This authoress is outta here for now…

Oh…and one more quick thing-Kudo's to my new beta reader…Sailor Epyon…you're awesome girl, and I totally appreciate you double checking me on this!

Rating: PG13/R (not so much R, there's just really **one** chapter in here in the past that **could** be considered R for those picky people but for the most part this has all been PG13)

Warning: Slash/yaoi ahead. If you don't like male/male pairings, then you might want to hit the wonderful back button to the top left of your page and run very far away.

Pairings: Takuya/Kouji with strong Junpei/Izumi hints scattered throughout

Time Setting: AU, rewrite of season 04 with everyone's favorite yaoi pairing…

**Different Journey's**

**Author: Angel Spirit**

**Chapter 23: Welcome To My Nightmare, PT II**

It was cold. That was the first thought that came to Kouji's mind as his dark blue gray eyes finally snapped open. He found himself lying in nothing but sheer darkness.

And he was alone.

That thought scared him more than the darkness did at this point. The fact that he was alone…

He didn't realize just how much he had hated being alone, until he'd come here to the Digital World. Now, being all by himself in this darkness…it made him realize just _how_ much he valued the friendships that he'd started forming with Izumi, Junpei, and Tomoki. Not to mention the love that he and Takuya shared.

Slowly getting up to his feet, Kouji wrapped his arms around himself as though he could use them to help shield the cold away.

It helped…but only a little bit.

Kouji felt weak…drained. And he couldn't quite understand _why_ he felt that way. He felt empty inside.

And he knew that he mustn't stay here. A part of him suspected that the darkness was what was affecting him. But he couldn't understand _why_.

So he started walking. He just picked a direction, not really caring which way he went, hoping that eventually he'd find a way out of the darkness.

He stumbled a few times, feeling waves of nausea and dizziness starting to overcome him-but he knew he had to press on. He didn't know why he felt so sick and alone all of a sudden. He wanted it to go away.

Kouji had fallen to his knees for probably the fifth time when his Detector went off, and he clumsily pulled it out of his pocket. Ophanimon's voice suddenly called out to him…it was soothing, and as he listened to her orders he felt a little of his strength return to him.

"Kouji…_you_ are the child of light. You _must_ help conquer this darkness or else it _will_ consume you _all_. Only your light can defeat it. But you _must_ not allow it to defeat _you_. You must continue to be strong. Find the others, and they will help you find the strength that you need to overcome this obstacle. I wish I could guide you more…but I think that this should help…follow the light Kouji…"

Kouji blinked as a harsh, blinding light suddenly escaped from his Detector…and he realized instantly, that it was forming a path.

A lighted path for him to follow…

Sighing, Kouji got up once again and this time started to follow the path that his Detector-with the help from Ophanimon-had created.

With any luck, it would lead him to one of the others.

"You're worthless Junpei, that's all you ever have been. Who would want to be _your_ friend?" This was one of those times where Junpei Shibayama just wanted to curl up and die…well, maybe that was being a little too extreme. So maybe what Junpei _really_ wanted, was for a hole to open up underneath him and swallow him up…to take him away from all the accusations and sneering comments that he was getting from all of those who surrounded him.

Everyone…his mother, his father…his friends…those who he had once called his friends, they were all there, tormenting him.

He didn't want this; he didn't need this.

Junpei's breathing hitched up a notch as Izumi-or who was _supposedly_ Izumi, started to slowly walk up to him-giving him such a fierce look that it caused Junpei to cower. Deep in Junpei's heart, he knew that Izumi and the others would never do this to him…right? It wasn't in their nature…these people surrounding him were _not_ real…

Or so he thought.

Maybe he had been wrong all along.

_Kouji and I have something in common and we never realized it._ Junpei thought to himself miserably as he found his dark brown eyes staring up into Izumi's bright blue ones, shining with an emotion that Junpei couldn't quite detect. _We've never fully trusted people before…not like we've started to trust our friends…or people who I thought were friends. Friends to torment friends like this…_

Junpei hated it. He hated it all…all this tormenting brought back bad memories. Terrible memories that he just wanted to forget, to make it go away. But every time he thought that he succeeded in doing so, it just caused him to remember everything all over again.

"It's okay Junpei…I've got something here that'll make it _all_ better…go on, take it, you _know_ you want to." The object that Izumi held out to him nearly caused Junpei to scream as he tried to move away from it, but others blocked him from doing so. So many others that Junpei was now having a hard time determining who was who…but Takuya, Izumi, and Tomoki were the most vivid one's, his parents closely following.

Junpei didn't even realize that Kouji wasn't even part of his distress. His clouded mind wouldn't allow him to dawdle on that small realization.

"Take it Junpei…you know you want to, just like you wanted to back then. There's nothing to be afraid of." Takuya. Takuya's voice caused Junpei to look up into a pair of dark brown eyes that caused his skin to crawl. The look that he saw in the other brunette's eyes didn't seem like Takuya at all.

Izumi prodded him again, and Junpei shuddered as he reached out and accepted what it was she had given him.

A razor.

A simple, sharp, clean razor was what he now held in his shaking left hand…

One little object that brought back so many terrible memories…

"You did it then Junpei, when things got so bad-why don't you just do it now, huh? Make it all go away like you tried to do, you know suicide was never the answer to any of your problems? That's what your mother and I always tried to teach you Junpei, but you just wouldn't listen. That's why we found you lying on the floor unconscious and bleeding to death-having cut both of your wrists-almost two years ago, right Junpei? That's why we had to send you to counseling, but even the counseling didn't help…not until you saw one of your friends die from cutting, right Junpei?" His father's accusing voice was what caused Junpei to finally break down as he dropped the razor and buried his head into his arms.

"No…no…I wanted to stop, I _did_…it…it was so painful…but I wasn't perfect, I couldn't be perfect…and I _know_ that now but I'm _trying_…" He whispered, and everyone around him laughed as it suddenly started to grow dark around him, and the people slowly started to fade away.

Even Takuya, Izumi, and Tomoki disappeared…leaving him with just the razor…and a strange dark Digimon standing before him.

"Your fear is what makes you weak-don't try to fight it. Give _into_ it…and you no longer have to worry about it." The masked Digimon bent down and picked up the razor blade, holding it in his own hand for a moment before gently placing it into Junpei's hand again.

As Junpei forced himself to look into the Digimon's eyes, he gasped as he saw the Digimon seemed to be half human…and his eyes looked very familiar. Almost _too_ familiar, as a set of dark blue gray eyes looked back into his own. Junpei found that he had to look away. The dark power that he felt from the Digimon was too much, and caused his mind to spin.

He felt like he was going to be sick, and he wasn't sure how much longer he could hold onto his will.

"Make it all go away Junpei." The voice was soft, but commanding and Junpei fought it. Fought it so hard that his tears were flowing faster now, and his body was shaking with the sobs that he tried to stifle. He hated appearing weak…but this was always his worst fear. He had fought so hard to conquer his own demons, and he was so sure that he had finally put most of them all to rest.

Maybe he shouldn't have been so sure.

"Give in Junpei…just give in…you know you want to make all the hurt and pain go away. The fact that you don't have any friends, the fact that you lost all the trust that your parents had in you, you're useless Junpei…admit it and do what you've been wanting to do for _so_ long now…" Junpei felt his body shaking as he tried to block out the dark Digimon's voice.

He _willed_ himself to be stronger than that hypnotizing voice, telling him what to do-and even though he admitted that a small part of his mind agreed with the dark, unknown Digimon-he also knew that he was a lot tougher than that. He'd conquered this terrible fear once, and he'd do it again.

"No." Junpei murmured, slowly shaking his head as he forced himself to look into the dark Digimon's dark blue gray eyes that were now opening wide as he appeared startled at the fact that Junpei was trying to free himself of the terror that had lay in his mind for so long.

"What did you say?" Came the soft demand, and Junpei found himself smiling a little as he slowly started to stand.

"I said…NO." He started walking toward the dark half-human Digimon who seemed to step back with every step that Junpei took forward. Junpei smirked…good. That meant that he was starting to scare the dark Digimon to at least a certain extent.

"And I mean _no_." Each time Junpei said no, he felt stronger.

Slowly the darkness started to lift, and Junpei suddenly felt light…somehow at peace with himself. As all he had really needed to do in the first place was to just find the power and the courage to say no in the first place.

"I will _not give in_!" He shouted, and the dark Digimon grimaced.

"JUNPEI!" The new voice startled them both, as Junpei and the dark-Digimon looked in the direction from where the voice had come from.

Junpei had only to look forward, while the dark Digimon had to turn slightly-his eyes opening wide again but this time, Junpei actually saw _true_ _fear_ in them. And his smirk widened into a smile. The dark Digimon was afraid now…good.

He couldn't quite find his voice yet-at least, not enough to yell back to who had called his name out. But he felt relief flood through him as he recognized it. It was _Kouji_…and the light that was lifting the darkness was coming from the direction that Kouji was coming from.

Sooner than either of them expected, the darkness was so much lighter than before, and Junpei sighed with the relief that he felt as Kouji came dashing up to them-stopping short when he saw the dark Digimon covering his eyes at the bright light that seemed to be emitting from Kouji himself.

"Child of _light_…" the dark Digimon hissed, and Kouji glared as his hand gripped itself tightly around his Detector.

"And what's it to you?" The raven haired teen sneered, taking a fighting stance as he held out his Detector, which seemed to grow even brighter with the pure white light-causing the dark, half-human Digimon to hiss and shield his eyes completely.

It was the first time that Junpei had seen that the dark Digimon had a staff with him, and it seemed to help ward off some of Kouji's light…causing Junpei to be bathed in shadows again and he felt cold once more, without have even realizing that he had been cold in the first place.

Suddenly, Junpei longed to be with Kouji in his light…to bathe in it…to be cleansed by it…

"You _will_ be _destroyed_!" Kouji only scoffed at the dark Digimon's words, and prepared to Digivolve. He was more than ready, but without warning…something…happened…

The dark Digimon muttered something, and Junpei saw him raise his staff-pointing it towards Kouji.

"Kouji, look out!" Junpei managed to holler out a warning, but he wasn't fast enough. A blast of dark light hit Kouji, and sent him flying through the air-causing him to land on his back a few feet away as he skidded to a halt. His light dimmed, and it seemed dark all around once more as Kouji lay seemingly unconscious on the ground from the harsh blast.

The dark Digimon smirked triumphantly as he turned to face Junpei-and to Junpei's surprise, he saw exhaustion in the dark Digimon's eyes. Eyes that reminded him a lot of Kouji's own dark orbs…

"You're so lucky your little friend came to save you. But at what price…? Were you really worth it?" With the last feeble attempt at Junpei, the dark Digimon vanished-without so much as giving Junpei a name to call him by.

Which, was fine by Junpei. He didn't want to ever meet up with that Digimon again.

Junpei had fallen to his knees when the darkness had taken over again, and it took him several minutes to regain his strength. And when he finally seemed to feel like his normal self again, he realized that Kouji still hadn't gotten up yet.

Standing and heading quickly over to his fallen comrades side, Junpei knelt down next to him to see that the raven haired teen was indeed unconscious, his face a bit on the pale side-but his breathing was steady and as Junpei checked Kouji over for any injuries, he slowly started to come around.

"Junpei…?" Kouji groaned, and the brunette nodded.

"Nice save Kouji." Softly biting down on his lower lip, Kouji tried to sit up but groaned softly again as Junpei caught him before he could fall back down to the ground again.

"How do you feel? You got hit pretty hard…I just wish I could've done something to prevent it instead of just stand there." Shaking his head, Kouji looked into Junpei's eyes and saw that much of the fear that he had seen in there when he had first arrived had almost completely vanished, and that Junpei was looking-and acting-like his old self again.

There had just been something about seeing Junpei in the way that he had, that Kouji hadn't liked.

It was almost as if Junpei was someone else entirely when he'd been surrounded by that darkness.

"Who was that Digimon…?" Kouji whispered, as Junpei shrugged.

"I truly have no idea. Can you stand…? I think we should probably get out of here." Nodding as he accepted Junpei's help up, he tested his footing. When Junpei (and Kouji himself) found him fit to walk, they started off.

"Do you have any idea what's going on here Kouji?" Junpei whispered as they continued their way through the darkness, the soft light that radiated from Kouji helping as much as it could. Junpei noted sadly that it was still quite a bit dimmer then before. He was still in awe that a person could shine _that_ much…

Kouji shook his head.

"I've got no idea. Lady Ophanimon just said that I had to use the light to find you guys…I wish that I'd arrived sooner Junpei." Junpei only shrugged.

"No harm done. I'm…okay actually." The two paused and smiled at each other for a moment as Kouji got a glance at their surroundings.

Before…

"Do you smell something?" Junpei looked up, and sniffed the air.

"You know, now that you mention it Kouji…I _do_ smell something. But hey, now that I think of it what did the Digimon mean by calling you the child of light?" Junpei hated to change the subject, but his curiosity was getting the better of him.

Unfortunately, Kouji didn't have an answer for him.

"I wish I knew." Was all that he replied with, and shrugged. Junpei was about to open his mouth to ask the raven haired teen another question before a scream pierced through the air that caused both of them to look at each other with horror in their eyes.

"Izumi!" They both yelled in unison before they took off running in the direction of where Izumi's scream had come from, with Kouji leading the way…

Izumi let out another wail as she realized exactly where she was.

This couldn't be happening to her…it _wasn't_ happening to her. It was all some kind of horrible nightmare and she'd wake up from it any minute now. She continued telling herself this as she hugged her arms around herself and took in her surroundings that she'd suddenly found herself in.

A dark alleyway…the scents of Italy filled her nose and her mind seemed to play the scenes before her over and over again, like a broken record…tormenting her.

It was horrible…she had never thought that she'd have to relive this moment. And it had all happened because she'd been _stupid_.

Izumi remembered that awful night. She'd gotten an invitation from some of the older girls at school to go and 'hang out' for the night, and she'd been _so_ excited at having been finally allowed in the 'popular group' that she really hadn't thought of anything else.

Knowing her parents probably wouldn't be too happy if she told them that she would be hanging out with a bunch of older kids on a Friday night, she had taken the low road…and had lied to them.

Izumi swore that after what had happened on this night that seemed to be playing before her very eyes, that she'd never lied to her parents or anyone else again. Having learned that lesson the hardest way anyone could've ever learned it.

She'd told her parents that she was going to a study group…and had taken a change of clothes with her, having no idea what the older girls had in mind…she was kind of hoping that it would just be a sleepover and they would watch movies and have a huge gossip session.

But a part of Izumi had known that that would not happen-that she shouldn't go, she should stay home and study…or hang out with her other friends that she knew really well. Friends that wouldn't put her in danger. Yet, despite the warning bells that were ringing in her head, Izumi went anyway.

So she'd found a public bathroom to change in, changing out of the nice jean skirt and tang top that she'd had on, and into a pair of tight fitting black jeans, and a dark purple halter top. Something she knew her mother would probably throw a fit over if she'd ever see her wearing the outfit. Izumi hadn't known what had possessed her to buy the halter top when she'd seen it on sale awhile back-maybe the color or something.

She had to admit, that a part of her felt uncomfortable wearing the new style that she'd chosen for the night. But those thoughts all flew out the window when she'd met up with the older kids later on at the designated meeting spot, in front of one of the many theatres that Italy had…

"_Wow babe you really know how to clean up!" A blonde who Izumi remembered was nicknamed "Nails" exclaimed, as she moved towards her to look her over. Even as Izumi looked at her she could see why-her nails were incredibly **long**. Izumi felt herself blushing with the compliment, but instantly tried to squelch it, remembering the crowd that she was hanging out with. Admittedly there were mostly girls, a few guys here and there, but mostly girls. _

_Izumi felt glad that she'd gone with the decision to change into the outfit that she was wearing now, she mostly matched everyone else and would fit in, instead of looking like the outcast that she suddenly felt._

"_So, what're we up to tonight?" Izumi asked, trying to ignore the stares she was getting from many of them…they were reminding her of a hungry pack of wolves with the looks in their eyes. _

"_Well, we were thinking of going underground." One of the taller, dark haired males declared, and Izumi's eyes widened as some of the older kids merely laughed at the shocked expression on her face._

"_G-going…u-underground?" She stuttered, not quite comprehending what they were really telling her. One of the girls, who Izumi knew was on the High School's cheer squad, came up to her and placed an arm around her shoulders. Izumi tried not to wrinkle her nose as she smelled the dark blonde's strong perfume._

"_You know, you're cute and definitely act way older than some of the other girls your age…but you really need to get that head on your shoulders, you know?" She half suggested as she twirled a strand of Izumi's light blond hair around her finger and Izumi fought to relax…she wanted to fit in so badly, but she suddenly wasn't really liking where this was starting to lead, and was really starting to wish that she hadn't lied to her parents like she had._

"_Come on, we're outta here…let's get going before the place fills up and we're not allowed in." A long, dark haired male responded with and led the way as the other's followed. Izumi was one of the last few to follow after much hesitation, debating on whether or not she should just turn around and go home. But the dark blonde haired girl from behind didn't seem to want to let go of her anytime soon and kept one of her arms around her shoulders and steered her towards the direction where everyone else was going._

'_This is ridiculous…I…I don't even know anybody's **names**…' Izumi suddenly realized and hadn't known she'd voiced her thoughts out loud until the dark blonde next to her laughed softly and continued playing with Izumi's own light blonde hair._

"_My name is Trista." Was the smooth introduction and Izumi found that she was shivering despite the warm weather. _

"_I'm-" She started to say, but Trista only laughed and shook her head._

"_Izumi. I know who you are silly, we **all** do…" _

Izumi blinked for a moment as the sound of a door opening and closing brought her back from her memories. Such horrible memories…

And being here only caused her to drive deeper into them. She needed to get out of here, needed to get out _now_. Izumi was starting to get a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach-telling her that something _bad_ was going to happen.

A sob escaped her, though she'd been trying so hard to not let the tears flow…she was scared, and she knew it. The tears only proved it. It was when another sob echoed her own, that she stood up a bit straighter and headed toward the direction that she thought she'd heard the soft cry. It was by the door…

Before she could reach the door though, it opened…and whoever had let out that other cry had disappeared, Izumi knew it. She wasn't sure how she knew it, but something deep inside her told her that it was all happening again.

"Why? Why is fate torturing me so?" Izumi whispered, and hugged herself as she looked up at the figure standing in the doorway…and screamed.

"I think it came from over there!" Junpei was panting, not used to doing all the running that he and Kouji had been doing for the past many minutes. He'd lost track of the time since they'd come to…wherever it was they'd come too. Kouji had guessed France, but wasn't certain. The place they were in had a distinct smell to it…and Kouji had pointed out that they weren't necessarily in the nicest part of the town either.

So what in the hell were they doing here anyway?

Because they'd just heard Izumi scream…and Junpei reminded Kouji that Izumi had traveled abroad and had once lived in Italy for awhile-something Kouji had admitted that he'd forgotten.

"Maybe…maybe something bad happened to her in Italy?" The brunette heaved again as he continued to follow Kouji, who threw him an undecipherable look over his shoulder.

"Why would you suggest _that_?" Kouji murmured, starting to feel uneasy about this whole situation as Junpei shrugged.

"I…I don't know. It just…seemed like the right thing to say. I mean, Kouji when you found me…I was once again living through what had had to have been the _worst_ time in my life. More terrifying than any nightmare anyone can have when they're asleep. Maybe Izumi's going through the same thing; maybe that dark digimon we ran into is doing this to us for some reason and he's our next big challenge." Junpei's voice suddenly started to sound different, far away…and not like him at all. It was a lot deeper than Junpei's voice was, and it caused Kouji to suddenly stop and whirl around to face the brunette.

But as he did so, whatever had just happened seemed like nothing had happened at all and Junpei was back to his normal self as he pretty much plowed into Kouji-not having noticed that the dark haired teen had stopped moving.

"Ouch…Junpei…get off!" Kouji scowled, as Junpei apologized several times while he helped Kouji to stand and Kouji only sighed and shook his head as he brushed his pants off.

"It's okay…you…are you alright?" Junpei nodded, giving Kouji a weird look.

"Yeah, I am…why?" The answer caused Kouji to bite down on his lower lip, wondering if he should tell Junpei what he had thought had just happened or not.

"Do you remember what you were telling me, what we were just talking about?" Junpei nodded again, and Kouji sighed with relief. Maybe he wouldn't have to explain anything after all.

"Yep, you'd commented on the fact that we might be in France and then I remembered that she had toured in Italy and that maybe something bad had happened to her here, and…and…" His voice trailed off as he suddenly got a puzzled look over his face.

"And then I remember…running into you…" Dark brown eyes opened wide with confusion and horror.

"Kouji, I can't remember something, why can't I remember something?" Kouji groaned at this. Great…he'd freaked Junpei out. That wasn't _exactly_ what he'd had planned…

Sighing, Kouji only shook his head and laid a hand on Junpei's shoulder as he bent over a little bit, trying to regain his breath. Getting knocked down by Junpei _hurt_…Kouji wasn't sure why, either Junpei was so much stronger then he'd thought that he was, or something was _wrong_.

"I'm not sure Junpei, but at the moment we _need_ to find Izumi!" Junpei nodded, feeling a little bit renewed as he remembered the 'mission' that they were on, and then suddenly got a good look at his friend who still had his hand on his shoulder…

"Kouji?" Kouji lifted his head as Junpei called to him, and heard Junpei inhale sharply.

Kouji winced at the sound of surprise that Junpei had emitted…did he really look as bad as he suddenly felt?

"Kouji are you alright?" Junpei's voice rose in alarm as he noticed how pale Kouji suddenly looked, and the little beads of sweat that had formed on his forehead…Kouji also seemed to be trembling a little, as though he couldn't hold himself up anymore. Maybe that was why Kouji's hand hadn't removed from his shoulder.

Finding the strength to shake his head at Junpei's question, Kouji felt scared suddenly. He didn't know what was wrong with him…and…he suddenly wanted Takuya. Wanted him oh so much…he had the feeling that Takuya could make it all better, could make the pain and hurt go away. Maybe even explain _why_ he was hurting…

Another scream ripped through the foul smelling night and before Kouji could do or say anything, Junpei had grabbed him and threw him behind him so that way he was now clutching desperately onto Junpei's shoulders. For Kouji the world was now nothing but a haze, and he thought that he dimly heard Junpei's concerned yet comforting voice telling him to hold on…

And while Kouji hated to admit it, he truly wished that it was Takuya carrying him piggyback style instead of Junpei. He had to give credit to Junpei though-Kouji hadn't thought that Junpei could ever be as caring as he was now.

Maybe he'd been wrong about everyone else all along as well. When he and Takuya had first agreed to travelling with the others, Kouji had been unsure. He'd enjoyed the time alone with Takuya, and thought that the others would just get in the way. And while it had seemed that way for a while…now…now he wasn't so sure. Now he was starting to feel just the opposite.

Junpei stopped suddenly, and before Kouji could ask him what was wrong he was gently laid down.

"I think we've reached our destination…" He mumbled, and as Kouji tried to blink away his hazy vision he found that he could make out the stretch of an alleyway before them. A dark, and haunted looking alleyway.

"Why in the hell would Izumi be down here of all places?" Kouji mumbled, letting out a soft sight as he used his fingertips to gently rub his aching temples-he suddenly had a pounding headache.

"Kouji?" Junpei asked, concern filling his voice once more as he knelt down so that he was facing Kouji directly-looking into Kouji's normally dark blue gray eyes, which seemed to now be bright with pain and something else that Junpei couldn't quite pick out as he placed one of his cool hands on Kouji's forehead and winced. Kouji was burning up…and it had all happened so suddenly that Junpei wasn't exactly sure _what_ was wrong with him.

Lifting his head enough so that his eyes met Junpei's, Kouji wasn't sure what to say for a few minutes until:

"I don't feel very good Junpei." He mumbled, and before he knew it, Junpei was brushing back the fallen strands of hair out of his face, as he was too busy being sick in the entrance of the alleyway to really care.

Another scream echoed through the night and Kouji fought the urge to be sick again. Junpei tried to help him up, but Kouji shook his head.

"No…go…go get Izumi she needs help, I can feel it!" He managed to protest, but Junpei shook his head vehemently.

"I'm _not_ leaving you here as sick as you are Kouji! I can't!" Kouji only managed to push him away though. It was a weak little shove, but it got the message through to Junpei.

"Go get her Junpei…I…I have the feeling I'll feel better once Izumi's safe…go…_please_…I'll…I'll be _fine_." Even though he'd never felt this way before and really doubted that he _was_ fine, Kouji was making Junpei leave. For Izumi's sake-for his own sake. He had no idea why but he truly believed that once Izumi was with them and as safe as she could be, he truly would feel better.

Junpei only nodded and hesitantly turned around to leave, sending glances behind him every once in awhile as Kouji seemed to fade out of view. Before Kouji faded completely, Junpei thought he saw him heaving again, and closed his eyes tightly-hating the fact that he was leaving a sick friend to go help another.

"Hang on Izumi…I'm on my way." Junpei murmured, as he braved the darkness…only to suddenly come upon a sight that he wished that he never had to see as the darkness lifted.

"Izumi!" He dashed toward her, grabbing her nearly unconscious form in his arms reminding himself to be a bit more gentle as she softly groaned her eyes fluttering as though she was debating whether or not to open them.

Junpei had never seen Izumi look as she did just then. She was wearing a completely different outfit, one that Junpei admitted she probably would've looked pretty hot in, if it wasn't for the circumstances that they were in. But the dark purple halter top she was wearing had started to come undone and was falling apart around her, and her jeans were even halfway undone…

Suddenly, Junpei didn't want to know what he'd intruded on and felt very much like tossing his cookies as well…

"Izumi?" He asked, his voice a bit softer this time as she stirred once again while he picked her up. She cried out and clung to him, tears starting to fall.

"I…I didn't mean…for any of this to happen, I…I…oh god mama…" Izumi sobbed, and Junpei only shook his head as he managed to get a good yet gentle grip on her so he could carry her back to where he'd left Kouji.

"Shhhh Izumi, shhh…it's alright." Junpei murmured, and instantly Izumi's eyes shot wide open in horror and nearly succeeded in having Junpei drop her.

"Junpei?" She questioned, and Junpei nodded. Knowing eventually that he and Kouji _would_ find out what happened to Izumi-why he found her crying in a dark alleyway in Italy partially…(Junpei felt a nosebleed coming on as he thought of this)…partially undressed, looking a little worse for the wear. Like she'd fought off whoever had been 'attacking' her and won. But Junpei realized suddenly, that he didn't _want_ to know what happened-if only because he had a pretty good idea of what it must've been.

"What're…what're you doing here, what did you see?" All the brunette did was shake his head as he looked at Izumi with such a sincere look, that Izumi knew that he was telling the truth.

"Nothing, I saw nothing Izumi. I…Kouji and I heard screams and I came to get you and found you as you were." Izumi sighed in relief and nodded…leaning weakly against his chest as she buried her face into it, trying her hardest not to cry.

"I…want to get out of here…and…Kouji's here too? Why isn't he _here_?" She whispered, and Junpei sighed, not quite wanting to tell her the reason why and hoping that Kouji was true to his words…that he'd be better with Izumi safe with them.

"You'll…see when we get there." He told her, and she only nodded as she continued to rest against him while he made his way back through the darkness, leaving the horrible alleyway behind.

At first, Junpei almost missed the spot where he'd left Kouji completely.

If he hadn't nearly tripped over his friends legs, he probably would've. Junpei's eyes opened wide with horror as he saw that the light that had once guided them to Izumi and had helped Junpei out of his own scrape had diminished greatly, and that darkness was starting to slowly take over the dimming light.

"Kouji!" Placing a half-unconscious Izumi down to the ground so that she was close to Kouji's prone figure, Junpei checked Kouji over, and sighed in frustration.

He couldn't carry _both_ of them! Kouji had said he'd feel better once Izumi was with them! So why wasn't he?

"KOUJI!" Junpei tried to get Kouji to waken, but the dark haired teen wouldn't respond, his body limp in his arms.

"What's wrong with him Junpei?" Izumi's voice startled him, he had thought that she was sleeping…but instead she was kneeling next to him, having placed a gentle hand across Kouji's forehead and wincing at the heat that radiated from it and the shallow breaths that Kouji was now taking.

"I…I don't exactly know Izumi. I wished that I _did_ know. Something's not right here; I've got a very bad feeling about this and…hey! Your clothes have changed…" Izumi blushed a little as she had realized that she was back into her lavender skirt and blue and white three quarter length shirt with her lavender vest over it. It felt good to be in these clothes again, and she shivered at the nightmarish memory that now haunted her once more.

But at the moment, she was more concerned about Kouji. He looked awful.

"I think we need to get him out of here Junpei, and maybe you can try and explain what's going on once we're in a safer place?" She suggested, and Junpei agreed as he gently scooped Kouji up into his arms. Their friend didn't even stir at the sudden movement. Looking at Izumi and making sure that she was alright, she nodded and gave him the thumbs up signal.

Together they continued to move away from the alleyway, and as they did so, the scenery around them changed once again…as Kouji suddenly cried out in pain…

**TBC**


	23. Welcome To My Nightmare ptIII

Disclaimer: The muses would like to remind everyone that Angel Spirit doesn't own Digimon, just the plot of this epic fic. The muses would also like to remind everyone that neither Angel Spirit _or_ her beta are responsible for any words being smashed together! 

Author's Notes: Heh…((crawls underneath her now infamous rock)) I'm SOOOO sorry for how long this has taken me you guys! ((wails and glomps all of her readers in apology)) I just…lost track of time, majorly. I think a part of the problem was that I was revising some old chapters, and just didn't realize that it had been since _May_ when I last updated! I know if _I_ was a reader reading this, and _not_ the author I'd probably be sitting there tapping my foot impatiently for an update as well! ((cowers)) Between how crazy my work schedule has been recently, being sick, and writer's block I just kind of put this update off. I wasn't too sure how I wanted the next few chapters of this to go, so I decided to take some time and look ahead of my plotness for this fic and see just exactly where I wanted to go so I didn't write myself into a dead end…I also had some kinks with this chapter and the next (which is currently being written as we speak and _hopefully_ won't take so long to update!) because there were some things I wasn't one hundred percent of the way sure on if I wanted to actually _do_ what I was planning _to_ do. _However_, I _can_ say that all those things have been successfully taken care of, and while I can't say _exactly_ what the kinks were that I was working out (for it would give away the story plot for sure, and then were would I be?) and that the chapters should start coming out without a huge as a delay like this one had! For those of you reading Confessions who haven't checked it out yet, that fic is now updated and I'm also working on Forevermore's next update as well! So I do believe that now you all want to go and read this lovely chapter that I've got up here for you. I must say here and now that I need to apologize once more for the lack of Takoujiness in this chapter ((crawls further underneath her hiding rock)) but I _do_ promise that it's coming, really and truly it is! I just felt that I had to focus on some of the other's for this chapter and I'm sure that you'll all understand what I'm saying here when you're finished reading this!

One last thing before I let everyone go is that I should warn you is that a _lot_ happens in this chapter, and some parts of it might be confusing-but remember, I've technically got them in a dream world now, so anything can happen and _everything_ is possible…

Warnings: This fic contains slashiness and AU so if you're not a fan of either/or then I suggest you hit the wonderful back button to the top left of your page there and run far, far away…

Pairings: Takuya/Kouji and strong hints of Junpei/Izumi

Time Setting: Season 04 AU w/tons of Takoujiness implied!

**Different Journey's**

**Author: Angel Spirit**

**Chapter 24: Welcome To My Nightmare Arc-part III-Eternal Darkness **

"I think we need to get him out of here Junpei, and maybe you can try and explain what's going on once we're in a safer place?" She suggested, and Junpei agreed as he gently scooped Kouji up into his arms. Their friend didn't even stir at the sudden movement. Looking at Izumi and making sure that she was alright, she nodded and gave him the thumbs up signal.

Together they continued to move away from the alleyway, and as they did so, the scenery around them changed once again…as Kouji suddenly cried out in pain…

And completely disappeared.

Both Izumi and Junpei were stunned as they suddenly realized that their friend was missing. One second he'd been in Junpei's arms, and the next…gone. Vanished…

As though he'd never been with them in the first place.

"J-Junpei…?" Izumi stammered, as Junpei shook his head-already knowing the question that she was going to ask-as the very same question of how in the hell Kouji's sudden vanishing act had happened, and at the same time not having an answer for it. He was just as astonished and frustrated as she was.

"He was just _here_…he was just _here_, and now he's _not_ here!" The brunette shouted angrily, having fallen down to his knees as he started pounding the ground with a fist to vent out some of the frustration he was feeling. Oh, sure he knew that in the end it wouldn't really _help_ him any but at the same time-it was either that or screaming out into the black nothingness that he and Izumi were now surrounded by.

"The moment Kouji disappeared the darkness took over…is…is Kouji the only one of us who can _defeat_ this dark maze?" Izumi asked wearily as she sank down next to him after he'd slowed his punches, as Junpei shook his head.

"I have no idea Izumi. I really don't…but…now we're stuck here, and I don't see anyway out anytime soon. " The blonde haired teen frowned as her companion suddenly sounded so down and gloomy, but in a way she could _see_ exactly _why_ he _was_ feeling that way.

The cold that came with the sudden darkness was almost excruciating, and Izumi found herself shivering…wondering if Junpei felt the chill as much as she did.

Apparently he _did_, because he sat up moments later, shaking his head once more as he let out a soft sigh.

"Maybe…maybe we're stuck here because we've already gone through what the other's need to go through? Maybe we're being held here by that dark Digimon that Kouji and I ran into earlier…" Izumi eyed Junpei curiously, wondering if he was talking about the same dark Digimon that _she_ had ran into while going through her own hideous nightmare.

"Did-did the Digimon you're talking about look part human, was wearing all sorts of dark and horrible armor, and had eyes that reminded you of Kouji's?" Doing a double take at the exact description that Izumi's trembling voice had given, Junpei nodded…and suddenly saw how cold she looked.

Frowning at the situation that the two of them were in, Junpei opened his arms and Izumi quite willingly (and rather quickly) maneuvered her shivering body into them.

"At least we're together and we can keep each other _warm_." Junpei murmured into her ear, as Izumi nodded thoughtfully.

"So we've all ran into this dark Digimon…those of us who have gone through 'nightmares'—or something horrible in general that's happened in our lives that we don't ever want to think of again." This time, it was Junpei who nodded at Izumi assessment, and as the blond knew that Junpei was listening to her thoughts she continued on.

"So that must mean that since you and I have both seen him then that we're done…right? Nothing else will happen to us here in this darkness?" Shrugging, Junpei wished that he could say yes to Izumi's question.

Unfortunately, he really didn't think so as another thought came to mind and he added it to Izumi's own.

"But Kouji's seen the dark Digimon too and I don't _think_ that he's gone through his nightmare-or something resembling his nightmare-yet. At least he didn't say anything about it and he didn't seem as shaken up when I met him and while I believe that Kouji's _really_ good at hiding his emotions, I don't think he's _that_ good. You and I both had a pretty good scare with our nightmare's reoccurring. If what that dark Digimon does is pull out the worst that's happened to us…then I'd hate to see what he does to Kouji, Takuya, and Tomoki. Poor kid…" Junpei murmured, thinking suddenly of Tomoki. He was the youngest of them all…

And both teens had the feeling that since they'd been alone in their own horrible ordeal, that their other friends would be too.

Izumi sat up suddenly in Junpei's arms and his grip loosened a little around her as she turned to face him, her dark blue eyes opened wide with horror.

"Junpei…Junpei, _that's_ why Kouji disappeared on us!" As Junpei shook his head, telling her that he didn't understand, Izumi grabbed a tight hold of his shoulder's with both of her hands-squeezing tight enough to get his full attention.

"Kouji suddenly disappeared because _he's_ going through _whatever_ horrible thing he's afraid of most by himself! It's a trend, a pattern…we all must conquer our greatest fear by _ourselves_." Junpei tried to take this all in and assess it, but some of it didn't make sense.

"So if Kouji was taken from us because it's his turn?" Izumi nodded, and Junpei sighed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"But you and I are stuck here together…it doesn't make sense…I don't see why when Kouji disappeared, that this dark Digimon separated the two of us as well since it's obvious he just loves to try and cause pain and suffering to others-hence the whole nightmare part, right?" This time all Izumi did was shrug and sigh as she settled herself back into Junpei's arms.

"I don't know…" She muttered, and groaned.

"I wish that Bokomon and Neemon were here-Bokomon at the least, could give us information that we don't have! I just want to make sense of the situation that we're in, and with what we're _dealing_ with!" The blonde teen growled, and Junpei chuckled softly suddenly as he ran a hand through her hair. She turned once more-but this time only slightly, enough so that she could playfully glare at him-and was still in his warm embrace.

"And what's so funny mister?" Izumi demanded, as Junpei chuckled once more and shook his head.

"That little growl of yours…you sounded like a tiny kitten ready to jump on a ball of yarn or something." He told her with a playful wink of his own as Izumi 'humphed' and crossed her arms over her chest, lifting her head up in defiance as she started to sit up and out of Junpei's embrace.

"Well _fine_, _be_ that way! See if I'll cuddle with you for the rest of the time that we're stuck here in this miserable, cold darkness…" Junpei snorted.

"Yeah, right, I'll give you a total of oh…probably one minute, give or take before you come crawling back to me." He retorted gently as Izumi eyed him with a mischievous glint as she crawled back to him once more.

"Really? One minute or less?" She murmured as she lightly kissed him and Junpei's eyes opened wide as his arms encircled around her waist.

"Yes…one…minute or…less…" He replied back as he kissed her back in return. Izumi found herself giggling, despite the situation that they were in.

"You know…there's one good thing about this darkness." Izumi whispered as Junpei kissed her gently once more and quirked an eyebrow when he pulled back just a bit so that his dark brown eyes could drink in her full appearance…everything from her tousled blond hair down to the white shoes she wore.

"Really? And what pray tell, is this darkness good for?" This time Izumi's eyebrow arched slightly as she smirked while she started to undo Junpei's snaps to his dark blue jumpsuit.

"I think I'd much rather _show_ you than _tell_ you." Izumi whispered once more, as she kissed Junpei fully again before he shuddered and ran his hands through her blonde hair…

**

* * *

**

"Junpei you dolt, let go of me and wake up!" Junpei sat up, startled as he glanced wildly around his surroundings-and blushed in embarrassment when he'd realized that he'd fallen asleep on his watch duty, and had moved closer to Izumi while he'd slept. In fact, he his arms had just now been wrapped around her petite body, before she'd woken up and found him asleep...cuddling her...and screeched out in alarm at how _close_ together they really _had_ been.

"Sorry Z…I…I fell…fell asleep…" The brunette muttered as he ran a hand through his tousled hair and glanced over in the direction that Kouji lay in.

After having gotten out of the alleyway, they'd traveled as far away from it in the darkness as they could before both teens had to stop and rest. Izumi was still worn out from having conquered her nightmare…whatever it had been, as she had yet to actually tell Junpei what it was (and of course, she didn't know what his was either so he called it even at that point. If Izumi chose to tell him what happened to her then he figured he might as well do the same and continue to hold her trust that she'd put in him)…and Junpei himself was getting tired of holding a feverish Kouji.

So they'd settled down to rest for awhile…and Izumi had fallen asleep not too long after they'd stopped. Junpei, not having the heart to wake her, had allowed her to continue sleeping as he told himself that he'd stay alert and on guard in case any bad Digimon came their way. Unfortunately for Junpei, that plan hadn't gone too well…

_What had just happened to me was all a dream…but…it all seemed **so** very real. It really did seem as though Kouji had disappeared on us and that we…Izumi and I had…had…_Junpei shook his head to clear it as he tried to focus on what it was Izumi was fuming about now.

"I said that I was _sorry_ Z!" He cried out, feeling exasperated at himself that he'd even allowed himself to fall asleep at a time like this. He was the only one with a Spirit…Izumi could no longer Spirit Evolve now that Grumblemon had her Spirit and she'd used up the rest of her energy protecting Kouji from Takuya when he'd turned all freaky on them in getting his Beast Spirit. While Kouji _did_ have both his Beast Spirit, _and_ his Human Spirit he was down for the count at the moment-and Junpei doubted that he'd be able to Spirit Evolve anytime soon anyway.

_What good is it to have both Spirits when you can hardly **use** them? _Junpei's thoughts cried out to him as he glanced over at Kouji's prone figure that shivered in the darkness, and sighed.

_Maybe I don't want my Beast Spirit after all…so far, they only seem to bring us bad luck! First Kouji nearly dies on us in getting his, and then Takuya goes all evil on us and only Kouji could snap him out of it! But for what **price**! As now we're all split up and stuck in the middle of some weird nightmarish world…_

It was true, the Digital World didn't even _feel_ like the Digital World. They seemed to be living one nightmare after the other, running from one dream to the next.

_If I dreamed **that** strongly while **I** was asleep for that small time frame, I wonder if Kouji's dreaming-and if he **is**, is it good or bad? _

"Earth to Junpei…are you with me here?" Brown eyes blinked a few times as they focused on Izumi's manicured hand as it waved back and forth while she tried to get his attention-a small look of worry appearing on her face.

"You spaced out. Penny for your thoughts?" Izumi quietly asked, as Junpei only shrugged and hesitated for a brief second before sharing part of what he had been thinking with his blonde comrade…his eyes trained on Kouji though as he did so.

"I was just wondering…you know, when I was asleep, I dreamed. And it was _so _real-that when you woke me up, I was shocked to see that what I'd been dreaming about wasn't really happening _now_." Nodding, Izumi knew what Junpei meant. She'd been dreaming as well-and had found very much the same thing when she'd woken up a few minutes before Junpei had. She'd taken those few minutes to gather her thoughts, and get her wits back together.

"Kouji's been out of it for quite awhile…and I'm wondering if we should try and wake him. Who knows what could be haunting him in his sleep?" Junpei finally finished, and Izumi sighed…she'd been wondering the same thing really…if they should try and wake Kouji up. He had yet to actually stir, yet to show any signs of having any kind of nightmare. But…that didn't mean that he wasn't having one.

"From what I can figure out so far Junpei, is that you and I are the only two who have gone through our own nightmares. I can't say anything for Takuya or Tomoki since they're not here with us, but I somehow know that Kouji _hasn't_ gone through his. And this darkness is starting to take a toll on him…_that_ much I can tell." What Izumi had just said, reminded Junpei of something that the dark Digimon who he and Kouji had dealt with before meeting up with the petite blonde, had spoken of.

"Now that you mention it Z, some creepy Digimon who was with me in my nightmare when Kouji came around said something about Kouji being the child of light. Kouji had told me afterwards, that Ophanimon had said the same exact thing before that and he didn't know the meaning of it…" Allowing his voice to trail off, Junpei looked to Izumi to see if she had any thoughts of her own to add to what he'd said, and she did.

"So maybe if Kouji's the child of light…then that could be a reason why the darkness is effecting him so much. Maybe he's sick, because the darkness is _making_ him sick." She pondered, as her bright blue eyes caught hold of Junpei's own eyes and stayed there.

"So in order for Kouji to get _better_, then we need to get him _out_ of this darkness." Izumi nodded sharply.

"That would be the point. Though I'm still wishing that Bokomon and Neemon were here with us-Bokomon could at least tell us if we were thinking in the right direction and-" a sudden gasp cut Izumi off as the two teens turned to see that Kouji's eyes had snapped open, light beads of sweat tricked down his forehead, and he lay huddled in a ball looking very much like a child who'd lost his mother.

In Kouji's case at the moment however, that couldn't be far from the truth.

"Mama?" He whimpered, huddling tighter into a ball as Junpei frowned in concern while Izumi headed over towards Kouji, kneeling down next to his shivering body seconds later.

"Kouji? Are you okay, can you hear me?" Izumi whispered as soothingly as she could while she reached out and gently placed her palm against Kouji's cheek-and gasped.

While it looked as though Kouji was burning with fever, his skin was really icy cold to the touch.

"Kouji?" Kouji groaned, apparently not having heard Izumi cry out his name at all as his arms wrapped themselves tightly around his stomach.

"Mama please…make it stop hurting, make it go away…I miss you so much…mama…" This time Junpei came to kneel next to Kouji as well and looked over at Izumi with the same look of concern that he held before.

"I think we need to try and find a way out of here. He's only getting worse-and until we can find someone to help us out, we're on our own. I only hope that Kouji's strong enough to go through what he has to go through…and that it's not worse than what either of us had to endure." Izumi nodded as she awkwardly stood, fighting a small blush when she suddenly realized how close that she was standing next to Junpei. If Junpei registered just how close together they were (once again), he didn't comment on it. Instead, he quickly scooped Kouji up in his arms and nodded towards his left.

"I think that was the direction that we were heading originally, though with all this infernal darkness, I'm not sure if I'm right or not…I don't even know at this point in time, if this darkness has an ending." Izumi sighed, knowing what Junpei meant, and exactly how he felt.

She'd never really had a fear of the dark when she was a little kid-though she knew a lot of her other peers had that fear and had always wondered why she'd never shared that fear with them. Now though…

Izumi gently bit down on her lower lip as she wrapped her arms around herself, giving herself a one way hug.

Now though, she knew that she very well might be afraid of the darkness for a very long time. But after this…at least she'd have a reason as to _why_.

* * *

"I just have to think happy thoughts…just have to think of happy times…I'm not all alone…I'm not alone, I'm not, I'm not, I'm _not_!" Tomoki kept on whimpering to himself as he continued to plow on through the never ending darkness.

But truth be told…he _was_ alone. As he'd always been alone.

And that thought in itself, scared him to death. He didn't like being alone. He didn't _want_ to be alone…being alone was a fear that hadn't left him since he'd been three years old and his older brother Yutaka had thought that it would be funny to suddenly disappear on him in the park one cloudy afternoon.

Tomoki remembered that he'd been playing in the sandbox, and Yutaka had been swinging on the swings with another kid his age that he'd met at the park. Yutaka had promised their mother, that he'd watch over Tomoki and make sure that he was never alone.

But Yutaka had broken his promise-even if, in the end, it had all been nothing but a horrible prank on Yutaka's part. When Tomoki had looked up at one point from the sand castle that he'd been making, only to see that Yutaka was nowhere in sight he had panicked.

At first he had thought that he'd merely not looked hard enough, and so his three year old self had gone wandering through the playground and most of the park itself, looking for his older brother. He'd gotten teased by the older kids as each second had passed and tears of frustration and fear had started to make their appearance. Many of the older kids calling him nothing but a 'big baby'.

And just when Tomoki had been ready to burst into tears, his brother had appeared with a look of mock-horror on his face…

Telling Tomoki that he needed to start growing up, to start depending on himself…that when he got older, in the end he'd be alone and no one would be there for him.

Tomoki had told him at the time that that wasn't true-still told him that today every time they had that argument. And it was a constant one brought up…making Tomoki had Yutaka more and more each time Yutaka started that fight. Usually when Yutaka brought it up, Tomoki would find some way to escape. He didn't want Yutaka telling him that he'd end up alone because he was such a cry-baby, because he wasn't as strong as his big brother.

And while a part of Tomoki wanted to believe that Yutaka wasn't as strong as he said that he was, Tomoki realized that not _once_, had he _ever_ seen Yutaka cry. Usually Yutaka was the bully, and never the other way around…whether it was Tomoki himself who he was bullying, or some other poor defenseless kid it always seemed as though Yutaka came out as the victor. Always leaving with that self-satisfied smirk on his face.

Tomoki fell to his knees, his hands pressed hard against the ground that the darkness surrounding him consumed.

Was Yutaka finally right? He was truly alone…all alone…no matter how hard he looked, or whatever direction that he ran too in hopes to find Izumi, Junpei, Kouji, or Takuya…he'd find no one.

It would still just be him.

Alone.

The fear ate at him, clogged his mind and closed his thoughts. Even though Tomoki shook his head many times and tried to force himself to stand, he knew he couldn't.

His greatest fear was coming true…and there was nothing he could do to stop it. The darkness went on and on forever…there didn't seem to be an end to it, and Tomoki didn't want to stay in the darkness any longer. The darkness seemed to be creeping up on him, and taking him over.

_I should be brave, I should be strong…I have a spirit…I'm a Digimon…I could probably kick the shit out of Yutaka now if I wanted to! Hurt him for all the times that he's hurt me…_

**_You could hurt anyone for all the times that they've hurt you Tomoki…just think…with all the power you possess, and _can_ possess, you could become the strongest Digimon that any of your friends have ever seen. You could crush Yutaka in the palm of your hands if you wanted too. All you have to do, is allow the darkness to consume you…_**

That voice…the voice whispered into his mind, filled Tomoki's head with thoughts that he knew he shouldn't listen to.

But…why?

Why shouldn't he listen to those thoughts? They were right, weren't they, each and every single one of them were right. Anybody he'd ever come across in his life had hurt him at one point in time or other, be it emotionally or physically-from Yutaka to…to…

_No_. _No, he's **never** hurt me! He's like a **brother** to me! _Tomoki's mind screamed out, he tried to speak the thought, but no words would come out and Tomoki was now paralyzed with fear.

**_Takuya's hurt you too. They've _all_ hurt you! Takuya's like a brother to you-or so you say-and yet, he's not here to protect you. No…he's probably off protecting Kouji, not caring where you are or what's happening to you as long as he's got Kouji safe and sound in his arms. Kouji's probably telling Takuya not to come after you because he-like Yutaka-thinks that you're a big boy now and can handle yourself…that you don't need anyone to help you, since you've got a spirit like they do and therefore, you should be as strong as them. _**

Tomoki shook his head, trying to ignore the dark voice that seemed to boom around his mind-drowning his own thoughts out.

_Kouji would never think of me like that, he'd **never** say **anything** like that at all! If Takuya wanted to come looking for me, Kouji would probably offer to go along with him! _As much as Tomoki tried to believe that thought though, he suddenly frowned.

What if…what if the voice was right? What if what the voice was telling him, was _true_? Kouji hadn't taken a liking to him, Junpei, and especially Izumi when they first met. What if Kouji was trying to keep Takuya all to himself? Tomoki looked up to Takuya-had immediately started thinking him as a better brotherly figure than Yutaka had ever been, just days after having met him. There was just something about Takuya, that made Tomoki want to be around him all the time…a part of him yearned for Takuya to be Yutaka's replacement…he'd give _anything_ to have an older brother like Takuya.

**_Are you going to let Kouji get away with doing that…? Ruining the chance of having someone on your side for once, sticking with you through thick and thin? Ask Shinya…Takuya's younger brother if you ever get a chance, he could tell you what an awesome older brother that Takuya is…always there for him, they rarely get into any arguments and if they do it's usually made up on the same day. Takuya's a _much_ better older brother…but…if Kouji's there, he'll just get in the way. He'll keep Takuya allllllll to himself…leaving you out in the cold once more…alone…_**

_**Don't you want to be alone Tomoki? **_

_NO! _Thinking that one single word as loud as he could, Tomoki fought the tears that threatened to flow. He wasn't going to be a cry baby…he was _not_. And he wasn't going to listen to anything that dark voice was telling him _either_! Kouji was a good friend so far-and Takuya _loved_ Kouji! Tomoki would never try to hurt anyone his Oniichan loved…right?

_**Are you right? **_

_I've got Junpei and Izumi as friends too, and they've been here for me since we got into this world_! Tomoki thought triumphantly, a small smile forming on his lips as he suddenly thought of them.

The dark voice in his mind growled in frustration-apparently it hadn't been counting on him to remember them.

**_Do you? You can see how much they like each other, those feelings grow stronger every day! Think about it Tomoki…you're the odd one out-again. You always are, always have been, always _will_ be. Just like me…I know how you feel…I've felt that feeling all to often. Look around you shrimp…Izumi and Junpei will fall happily in love, and maybe even get married someday and have kids of their own…they could care less about you! And Takuya and Kouji have already paired up…so where does that leave you kid? Just like me…_alone**

_Who are you? What do you want from me, why are you tormenting me? _As Tomoki questioned this, he glanced up when he saw a figure start approaching him through the darkness…and Tomoki gasped. The eyes…the eyes were a very familiar dark blue gray color, and Tomoki knew that he'd seen them before. The Digimon standing before him was part human…had a human-like appearance, with dark body armor covering every inch of his body…he also had a helmet covering his facial features-save for his eyes that seemed to shine through the darkness. The dark Digimon carried a staff with him, a dark black crystal sat comfortably on top of it.

**_Who am I? I am the Digimon of Darkness…that is all you need to know for now. And why am I tormenting you? I am _not_ tormenting you young Tomoki, but you are tormenting yourself. Let me help you cease this tormenting…I hate to see one suffer so. Take my hand Tomoki, and this will all stop…I promise._**

_Really? _

_**Really and truly…it'll stop…just take my hand…that's it…good boy…**_

Tomoki frowned as he started to reach out towards the dark armored Digimon, and then hesitated. He hated being called a "good boy," even when his mother called him that…he wasn't sure why, maybe because it was usually praising words for when a dog did something well, and he was no dog-he was just a kid, looking for a place to belong in this world.

But was this really the place where he wanted to be?

**_TAKE MY HAND! _**The command was a sharp crack in his mind, and Tomoki nearly cried out as his body suddenly lurched forward, becoming unfrozen as his hand quickly grasped the dark Digimon's own before he could snatch it back.

The smile that the dark Digimon let out, was suddenly nerving to Tomoki and it caused him to shiver as his head started to spin. Or maybe the reason why he was shivering, was because the Digimon's hand that encased his own small one, was icy cold to the touch.

_What have I done? _Tomoki cried out in his mind, having not been able to figure out why he couldn't speak. Tomoki was to busy worrying about other things, that he did not quite realize the 'pact' that he had just made. And the effects that this pact would have not only on himself, but his friends as well.

**_Do you want revenge on all the one's who have hurt you Tomoki? Especially _him?** Tomoki nodded, at the dark Digimon's question-his thoughts suddenly coming to him in a jumble, as though his mind wasn't really his at all anymore…he felt…confused…

The Digimon standing tall before him, let a knowing smirk cross his lips.

**_Then embrace the darkness…my darkness, is now yours as well…_**

All that could be heard for miles through the never ending darkness, was a scream full of terrified pain…

And then all was silent once more.

**TBC**

End Note: Yes, I know, I'm an evil horrible person for leaving it there but I promise the next chapter is being worked on! Kudo's once again to my beta reader Sailor Epyon for making this chapter all nice and pretty for you guys to read! Don't hesitate to leave a review...((gives readers innocent looking puppy dog eyes))


	24. Welcome To My Nightmare ptIV

Disclaimer: The muses would like to remind everyone that Angel Spirit doesn't own Digimon, just the plot of the fic.

Author's Notes: Heh…ummm…((glances around for somewhere to hide since her rock has currently gone missing)) so here's the latest installment of Different Journey's! I know it takes me forever to put out these chapters and I do apologize…really! This one chapter however, was driving me nuts-it's kind of a connection chapter, and so I had to think it out and plan it out carefully so that way I wouldn't mess anything up for me writing wise in the future. But…it's finally done and here for all of you wonderfully patient readers to enjoy! (And I know that this isn't actually chapter 24…it's actually 23 since I deleted that author's note earlier, I know it's all screwed up and confusing-but for now I'm going to go ahead and continue on this way until I can get working on reorganizing the chapters…so hang tight for now, I promise that it'll be done eventually…)

Okayyyy…so, normally I _don't_ do this in my fics anymore, especially since I've taking a huge liking to the new REPLY button that's attached next to the reviewers ID if they're signed in…(really, it's made my life so much easier and I tend to-most of the time-reply to reviewers quicker that way!) BUT, I did have one review that I saw that my fingers were just itching to type a quick reply to and that one's to eclipsedlight. First of all the answer to your _first_ question-I'm not going to actually answer for two reasons…one…no on else knows who the 'Dark Digimon' is (unless if they might've figured it out already, which I'm sure that some of my readers _might_ have…you know who you are! LOL!) and two…because it would give away half of the plot for this chapter!-And of course, other chapter's to come in the near future. So do continue reading and you'll find out who the Dark Digimon is, I promise! And as to your question on Kouji and why he's so special? Hehe…((looks around at most of her readers who all know how she's going to answer this)) he's my _favorite_ bishie. I _adore_ Kouji…so whenever I get the chance to torture him be it physically or emotionally, of _course_ I'll take it! LOL! (Remember, this is also an AU fic-meaning that everything and anything can go.) That, and I'm a big fan of the lightness vs darkness deal…and I'm saying way to much there, so I won't go any further into that least I give something away…((smiles innocently)) And as for where Takuya is during all of this…? ((manages to find a place to hide)) That's…actually a _really_ good question and you're actually not the only one who's asked that…and…umm…you know, I think I'll leave it right there and allow you guys to have a good read and I'll…umm…explain that at the end of the chapter…yeah…((disappears into hiding spot where hopefully no one can find her))

Rating: PG13

Warning: This fic contains slash/yaoi…if you're not a fan of male/male pairings or any of the pairings listed below then ever so kindly hit the wonderful back button to the top left of your page up there and run far, far away. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Pairings: Takuya/Kouji, with **strong**Junpei/Izumi hints

Time Setting: 100 AU-rewrite of season 04 w/Takoujiness abound

**Different Journey's**

**Author: Angel Spirit**

Chapter 24: Welcome To My Nightmare Arc Part IV: Nightmare Island 

He was running. Running so fast, he had never thought that he was capable of running at such a speed before in his life.

The darkness was no longer there…it wasn't even necessary…because now, he was one with that darkness.

And it felt…strangely good to be one with that darkness, to have the darkness creeping through him and eating at his very soul. He felt stronger with it, like he could be anybody and anything-and no one could stop him.

Dark brown eyes narrowed at this thought as it continued to chant it's way through his mind.

No one could stop him, no one could stop him, no one could stop him, no one could stop him…

Especially him.

His mouth-no, correct that, no longer his mouth, the mouth of a beast-curled upwards in a snarl…and he was still slightly surprised when he heard the snarl come from himself.

He was strong…powerful…he could defeat anyone…anyone.

Even him.

**_Do you like it little one?_** A voice that resounded through his head sounded just as strong and sure as he felt.

_YES!_ Was the answered cry.

**_You know what to do…there's only ONE who stands in your way of everything you ever wanted. So what are you going to do?_** That same dark sounding voice from before was now gentle, and his teeth barred at it, a long tongue running over sharp canines. It was the voice that would give him everything he'd ever wanted, and more.

_I'll hurt him…I'll watch him suffer…and then…I'll kill him. _

Laughter…evil laughter…bubbled up in his mind, and continued to flow until he found himself laughing that same, spine-tingling maniacal laughter. If only the others could see him now…he wouldn't be known as the 'weak one,' if they could. No, that nickname was long gone.

You'll kill him…you'll kill them ALL… 

And he continued to run with that last thought, stopping every once in awhile to sniff into the night…

The hunt was on.

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Izumi's heart skipped a beat, as she suddenly stopped-and Junpei nearly plowed her over, causing her to stumble. She managed to catch her balance before she fell flat on her face though, only half turning to make sure that Junpei was okay-and he gave her a swift nod as an answer. Which, was just fine with her…

The two of them were silent, as they waited to hear what had caused Izumi to stop in her tracks so suddenly.

One minute…two…three…

And there it was again. A low sounding wail off in the far distance…Izumi shuddered in the darkness, as she crossed her arms over each other and used her hands to try and warm the chill that her bare arms suddenly felt. She could swear that she had goose bumps on them and the hair was starting to rise on the back of her neck as well.

"That noise sounds really strange, Z…do you think another Digimon could be in trouble or something?" Junpei whispered, trying his hardest not to sound as panicked as he was really feeling, as he shifted Kouji's weight once more in his arms. He really wished that Takuya was here to help carry Kouji and relieve him of the burden…no offense to their dark haired team mate, but Kouji was starting to weigh a ton…of course, maybe that was because Junpei had been carrying him for a really, really, really long time now.

Again, the wailing noise sounded, and this time, even Junpei got the same hair-raising chills that he knew Izumi must've been feeling as well-and Kouji mumbled something incoherent in his fevered sleep, burying his head in Junpei's chest as though it could shield him from the awful noise.

Izumi bit her lip, debating on whether or not they should continue on or take a break. A part of her really wanted to continue on, because she wanted to get away from that wailing noise…more importantly though, she wanted it to stop.

"It sounds like a wounded animal…" She murmured softly, her voice carrying out the fear she felt, as Junpei decided to made the ultimate decision on whether to rest or not. Kneeling gently to the ground, Junpei gently placed Kouji down and shook his arms as the wailing noise pitched…and grew louder.

"Come here, Izumi." The light brunette whispered, as she did as she was told and buried herself in Junpei's warm embrace, trying her hardest to block out the unknown noise.

The two teenagers weren't sure how long they were there, or how long they stayed huddled in each others' arms. Eventually though, the wailing stopped-and Izumi sighed as she slowly let go from Junpei and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead.

"Thank you." She murmured, kneeling down to check on Kouji and grinning softly when she placed a hand on his forehead…to find that his fever had gone down and that he didn't feel as warm as he had before.

For his part, Junpei was shocked to say the least, as his hand instantly went up to the spot on his forehead that Izumi had so tenderly kissed.

_I'm never going to wash this forehead again!_ Junpei thought dreamily, as he snapped out of his thoughts the moment Izumi's voice managed to break through them. She sounded a bit happier, and when his mind re-focused itself, he quickly found out why.

"Kouji's fever's going down-or so I think…he's not as warm as before, and I definitely no longer hear that awful wailing noise. Maybe the fact that Kouji's fever is descending, means that we're going in the right direction in this creepy darkness." Junpei found himself agreeing with his blonde friend-though these days, he wished that it was something more than friendship and often wondered if she felt the same way.

Seconds…minutes…days…weeks…months…just how much time had passed since they were trapped in this dark world? Junpei knew that he had lost track of time hours, maybe days ago.

So he decided to bring up the question to Izumi to see what she thought.

"Hey Z…how long do you think that we've been here, trapped in this darkness?" The look on Izumi's face grew thoughtful, and Junpei soon found that he liked seeing her like that…the thoughtful look on Izumi's face made her look peaceful in an odd sort of way.

"In all honesty, Junpei…I…don't know. Though, I think I should…you know? It's almost as though time doesn't have any real relevance to this place." The blonde teen said with a light shrug, and Junpei nodded at this. He agreed with that statement as well.

"Do we want to rest here for awhile more? I know my arms could certainly use the rest!" Junpei lightly joked, and Izumi eyed him for a moment, before a smile appeared, and she nodded as she settled down, so that she was sitting right next to him, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"I'll second that! A rest would be nice…" She murmured, a yawn following.

"You can fall asleep, Izumi, I won't fall asleep on my watch this time." Izumi giggled as she nuzzled Junpei's shoulder and Junpei fought the blush that threatened to appear with how cuddly Izumi was being-as he prayed to whatever god was up there that this wasn't another dream playing with him.

_Pinch me now please, I think I'm dreaming!_ Junpei thought as he grinned while he watched Izumi fight to stay awake…

* * *

So close…so very, very close…

Another pause, long enough to smell the air once more and howl at the moons of the Digital World that were now high in the air. A light breeze passed by him, and his eyes darkened a bit, as he decided to sniff the air once more.

He looked to the left of him, and almost thought about changing directions at the scent that he'd picked up with the wind. Almost.

_Too close. Don't go that way-continue the way you were going. You'll meet up with them, eventually…and he will pay for making you suffer. For trying to take him away. _

Yes…make him pay first. Then go and visit the other one.

Beast-like animal senses kicked in, and with another howl, he was off and running gracefully through the forest once more.

Soon…very soon…

The hunt continued.

**

* * *

**

Darkness. It creeps up onto you so unexpectedly…overtakes you, overwhelms you…leaves you feeling completely, and helplessly lost.

It was how Kouji felt, as he woke to that same darkness, feeling chilled-yet warm moments later as a thin layer of sweat seemed to cover his body. He really didn't feel very good…but he hadn't been feeling very good for a while now, that much he knew. But he knew of little else.

Except for the darkness that seemed to seep in all around him-it was almost as though he was entwined in it…like it was taking him in and carrying him away.

But away to where?

If only Kouji knew…

BREAK 

"Kouji!"

Izumi found herself suddenly waking to the sound of her friend's name being frantically called out, and she quickly jerked herself into a sitting position-realizing that she was no longer in Junpei's arms, and that Junpei was the one who had called out Kouji's name.

Becoming more awake, Izumi saw that Junpei had Digivolved…and was trying to rescue Kouji from vines that seemed to be made out of the darkness. The vines were entwining themselves around Kouji's unconscious form, trying to slowly drag him away from where he'd been laying next to Izumi and Junpei.

"Junpei!" Letting Junpei know that she was awake, she dashed forward to help the brunette, who couldn't use any of his attacks, knowing that he might hit Kouji.

"Izumi, take him!" Junpei hollered, just as Izumi reached the boys. Junpei had managed to grab a hold of Kouji and pull as hard as he could-getting him out of the vines' grasps and tossing Kouji's frail-looking figure into Izumi's waiting arms. She expected to hit the floor with him-not catch him as she did, and was surprised at how light he really weighted.

She let out a soft grunt as she caught him, and caught her balance while she staggered backwards, ever so slightly. Regaining her momentum, Izumi turned her heel and fled-hating the fact that she was leaving Junpei behind to battle out the dark vines, but at the same time, knowing that she couldn't help him fight. She didn't have her spirit anymore…Kouji couldn't Digivolve either being as sick as he was…so that left Junpei.

_Please be okay, Junpei…please…we can't be separated or hurt anymore than we already are!_ The blonde teen thought desperately, as she clutched Kouji a bit tighter to her-realizing that she was running blindly through the darkness and loosing her way.

She prayed that she'd be able to find Junpei again…she didn't think that she could protect Kouji herself…especially if the same dark vines returned for him.

Thinking that she heard something behind her, Izumi spun on her heel, quickly turning around. Nothing but darkness greeted her, and Izumi shook her head and kept on running-keeping a tight grip on Kouji as she did so.

The sounds of Junpei's battle with the dark vines were growing feint and she could hardly hear them now. Believing that she must've been at a safe distance, Izumi paused for a moment to catch her breath, wondering just how long she'd been running.

Izumi heard another sound behind her-one that sounded like harsh breathing-that wasn't hers, and she almost dropped Kouji. She whimpered, clutching Kouji that much tighter to her, as she fought the urge to turn around and face whatever it was that stood behind her. This time, she knew that it wasn't her imagination…there really was something behind her and from the sounds of it, that something didn't sound very nice.

"Oh gods…I'm sorry…I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" Why Izumi was apologizing, she wasn't sure. Who she was apologizing to, that much she knew. She was apologizing to everyone-to Junpei for having run away when she should've stayed her ground right then and there to protect Kouji even though Junpei had told her to run, to Takuya-because she knew that she wasn't going to be able to protect Kouji in this darkness by herself and she was scared of what might happen to him if she didn't. And to Tomoki-because they hadn't found Tomoki yet and had no idea of his whereabouts, and finally to Kouji himself…knowing that he hadn't the vaguest clue as to what was going on around him and knowing that if he was in her position, he wouldn't be cowering like she was now.

The darkness was finally getting to her, Izumi knew. Even though she'd lived through her nightmare, the darkness was making her go crazy and causing her to act out of character. Izumi had the feeling that after this, she'd be scared of the dark for life.

A low growl in the darkness snapped Izumi out of her thoughts, but froze her body-trying to protect Kouji the best way she could, while knowing that she was going to fail, wasn't exactly how she'd planned all of this. In fact, she hadn't really planned any of it. If it had been up to her, none of this would be happening.

"Izzzzzuuuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…." When her name was called from the darkness behind her, Izumi flinched. The voice sounded eerily familiar, but she wasn't sure why and couldn't put a finger on as to where she'd heard it from before.

Shuddering, Izumi forced herself to turn around-and almost dropped Kouji at the sight that stood behind her.

It had to be a reincarnation of Big Foot…even though Izumi knew that Big Foot was nothing but legends, from all of the fake pictures that was displayed around the internet from various people's viewpoints and imaginations of what the giant beast looked like; Izumi had the feeling that this wasn't her imagination-that this was the real deal standing right in front of her.

But…it wasn't quite big foot…at least, definitely not the Big Foot that Izumi had always pictured in her mind-just like everyone else, Izumi had her own definition of the mythical creature. And this definitely was _not_ it. This…_thing_, stood tall-towering over her and making her feet rather small-almost as small as a mouse. Its large, brown eyes were dark and menacing and white fur covered it…

That was only the beginning, though. As Izumi's wide blue eyes roamed over the beast that loomed above her, she took in it's massive paw-like hands…and saw the ax that they held-an ax that looked as though it was ready to strike her at any moment.

Izumi fought the urge to scream, but the fight was lost as the beast before her let out a howling scream and sent the ax flying her way. She threw an arm up to protect herself (in the best way she possibly could still holding onto Kouji) not knowing how it would help as she had the feeling that if the beast's attack continued in the direction it was going, that she would be thoroughly harmed, no matter what she tried to do at this point-and she prayed.

Her prayers were answered, as right before the ax hit, someone plowed into her from the side, the momentum carried her and her rescuer inches away from where the ax hit the ground, and Izumi thanked her lucky stars that Kouji hadn't been hit.

"Are you okay?" A new voice-one that Izumi had never heard of before, that sounded just as dark as the darkness that surrounded her, caused Izumi to come back to reality as she shook herself out of the daze that she had quickly gone into when she had realized that the ax-bearing beast was trying to kill her.

Izumi found herself staring into a pair of deep, dark eyes-eyes that somehow looked familiar to her, and yet, she'd never seen them before in her life. Those dark eyes were the only facial features that she could see, the rest of it was all covered by a mask…long, wild dark blonde hair flowed down the human-like Digimon's back, reaching mid-point so that it was slightly above his waist. The rest of him was covered in body armor…and Izumi blushed when she realized that he had caught her staring, and tried to look away. Izumi noted that the creepiest part about the new Digimon's armor had to be the eyes that seemed to be in three different places on his chest plate.

"Y-yeah…I-I'm fine…thanks." The blonde managed to struggle the words out of her mouth, wincing as she did so, while she thought of how pathetic she sounded. But then again, a huge Digimon beast had just tried to kill her…she had every right to sound pathetic…or so she thought.

All the new stranger did was nod, before standing and brushing himself off, sending a fierce glare in the unknown Beast Digimon's direction. The hairy thing had picked up its ax once again and its growl seemed to be never-ending.

"Take care of your friend." Izumi shook her head once more as she saw the new Digimon pick up a staff that she hadn't seen before, and stalk towards the Beast Digimon, muttering something underneath his breath.

Raising an eyebrow, Izumi looked on at the battle that seemed to be brewing before her as she scrambled to Kouji's side…panic flooding through her as she saw that she was going to be too late. The dark vines that had attacked before…that had caused her to run from Junpei's predicament-were back.

And this time, they almost had Kouji in their vice-like grips.

"NO!" Izumi launched herself towards Kouji's body, as it was slowly being overcome by darkness…if she didn't act fast, then she'd lose him. And she couldn't do that…she knew that if she did that, she'd be all alone in this darkness once more, and she didn't think that she could handle it by herself this time. Izumi knew that if she were left alone, that it would be the end of her.

The previous bearer of the wind spirit, wasn't about ready to let that happen. She clung onto Kouji's legs with all of her might, batting the dark vines away with her right hand, as her left arm stayed securely around Kouji's legs.

Little did Izumi know, that she was in for a wild ride as the dark vines began to thump and squirm as they tried to throw her off, determined to get what they came for.

That was how Junpei found her, when he arrived out of breath. He had been forced to DeDigivolve when he'd used a stronger attack on the dark vines to make them disappear the first time. This time, he knew he wasn't going to be so lucky. He barely got to Izumi in time, rescuing her from getting sucked into the darkness with Kouji-and holding onto her, while she started sobbing into his chest.

"It's not fair, Junpei…it's not, it's not, it's not!" Izumi wailed, clutching tightly to him and Junpei nodded in understanding. A part of him knew exactly where she was coming from.

A blast from the side caused him to turn around, shielding Izumi from the heat of the attack. His light, brown eyes opened wide as he saw the creature that loomed behind him, shuddering as the Beast Digimon's glare seemed to penetrate right through his soul when his eyes locked with the creature's own.

Junpei saw the new human-like Digimon attack once more, and his jaw nearly dropped when he saw the stranger's attack send the Beast Digimon down, though the humanoid Digimon seemed to be tiring.

Izumi's detector beeped, and as she quickly brought it out as she wiped her eyes-still wet from crying, her eyes widened as she pulled on Junpei's sleeve to take his attention away from the battle, so that he was now looking at the screen of her detector.

"Junpei…my detector's telling us what those Digimon are! The Beast-like Digimon that looks like Big Foot is called KoriIkkakumon, and the humanoid-looking Digimon is called Duskmon! But…" Izumi frowned, looking thoughtful as she glanced at her detector and then at the battle where KoryIkkakumon and Duskmon were battling it out.

"This…doesn't…sound…right." At Izumi's puzzled tone, Junpei gently took her detector from her hands and took a look at the screen himself, his eyes turning frantic as he did so.

"You're right…this doesn't sound right! We should be protecting that Beast Digimon-KoryIkkakumon…it's Tomoki!" Grabbing his detector, Junpei was ready to digivolve again-but Izumi stopped him last minute with another tug on his sleeve, as she'd stood up with him, since he'd taken her along with him when he had done so to digivolve. He glanced down at her, a questioning look in his features as Izumi roughly shook her head 'no'.

"What is it, Z? Duskmon is attacking Tomoki! We've got to help him!" Biting on her lower lip at Junpei's sudden sense of bravado, Izumi shook her head once more…wondering how it was that she could possibly tell Junpei that Tomoki had just tried to kill her.

And suddenly, the words just came tumbling out of her mouth.

"That new Digimon-Duskmon…he saved me, Junpei. He saved me when…when KoryIkkakumon tried to attack me…he was bringing his ax down to kill me before Duskmon practically flung himself at me, and I narrowly avoided being on the end of that ax! You can't go in there to help Tomoki, because Junpei…I don't think that that is Tomoki!" Izumi started to sound frantic again, and Junpei tried to calm her down as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Shhh…Z, remember when Takuya and Kouji got their beast spirits?" He asked her, and Izumi nodded. She remembered alright…while Kouji had been slightly better at regaining control of his beast spirit, he still hadn't quite been himself…and Takuya…Takuya's Beast Spirit experience had been the worst they'd seen so far. He'd almost killed Kouji without realizing what he'd done until it was nearly too late. Luckily for them, Takuya had regained his senses in the nick of time. But what did that have to do with the current situation that they were in now? Such thoughts went through Izumi's head as she listened to what Junpei had to say with a rather open mind.

"Tomoki could be going through the same thing. Maybe he attacked you because he didn't remember who you were! Maybe his Beast Spirit's still controlling him-maybe he's in that thing trying to fight it like Takuya and Kouji had to do, and Duskmon continually attacking him, isn't helping!" At Junpei's exclamation, Izumi hesitated.

"But…but Duskmon saved me!" She whimpered, and Junpei shook his head.

"I know he did, Z…I know, and I'm not saying that he's not on our side…all I'm saying, is that we've got to convince this new guy that KoryKagumon's on our side, do you understand?" It was several seconds after Junpei's question, before Izumi found herself able to answer.

She wasn't sure why she was so torn up about this-but she was sure of one thing-she wanted out of this darkness. And she'd do just about anything to get out of this darkness. Even if it meant confronting the two battling Digimon in front of them without her spirit.

"Are you with me here, Izumi?" Izumi blinked, almost gasping when she heard Junpei call her by her full name. Lately he'd been calling her "Z"…a nickname that she found herself growing quite fond of, actually. For Junpei to not be using her nickname, she knew he was serious.

_Very _serious.

Nodding, Izumi stopped clinging to Junpei, suddenly preferring to stand on her own two feet. If they had to confront Duskmon and encourage him not to attack KoryKagumon then she preferred to do it without using Junpei as a leaning post.

She was scared…

But she wasn't that scared.

Right?

* * *

_He got AWAY! You LET him get AWAY! He was MINE!_ The mental voice growled inside his head, and the Digimon made of darkness smirked behind his mask. 

**_I HAD to let him get away from the others, you fool! My plan is going to work perfectly and YOU my friend, are NOT going to mess it up! _** He argued back in mind speak, in the same tone of voice that KoryKagumon was speaking to him now.

_He was supposed to be MINE! He IS mine, I MUST make him pay! He's hurt me just like all the others have, but more!_ Again, another smirk-this time one of confidence, behind the mask that the dark Digimon wore. Timing was everything. His long, thought out plan was _finally_ going into effect.

He'd have the Digi Destined-_all _of them-trust him one way or the other. And once he had their trust…

He'd crush them.

**_You'll get what is yours, I promise…but we've got an agreement, remember?_** He was met with a snarl in his mind this time, but he knew what it meant, and he nodded his head at the gigantic Beast that stood in front of him.

Good…now attack me…attack me like I was the one you really want to be attacking! 

And attack he did…and the darkness came once more, followed by screaming.

* * *

Izumi's screams were the one's that echoed through the darkness, when she found that she could barely see her hand in front of her face.

She couldn't see Junpei, couldn't see the new, strange dark-armored Digimon who had come to her rescue when Tomoki's uncontrolled, evil beast spirit attacked her the first time.

Izumi couldn't even see the battle that had started before the darkness had taken over, and so she dared to take a few cautious steps forward in the inky blackness that surrounded her, feeling her way so that she wouldn't trip or stumble over anything that might've been in her path.

A small voice started to whisper in her ear, and at first, Izumi whirled around in the darkness in fright-wondering where the voice was coming from. It strongly sounded like Ophanimon-the Digimon who had brought them all here to fight the evil that was taking over this world.

But Izumi wasn't one hundred percent positive…but she decided to listen to the voice anyway; hoping that it would tell her a way to get out of the mess she suddenly found herself in.

While it didn't quite tell her exactly what she wanted to hear, the voice _did_ tell her something important that they all needed to know.

"The darkness is like poison to the bearer of light…you must find him and get him out, before it's too late…where you find him, you'll find the bearer of fire, as well."

Just like that, the voice was gone and Izumi shook her head slightly to clear her mind.

The bearer of light? Izumi assumed that that had to mean Kouji…he had been effected by this darkness since they'd first come to be in it. And if the darkness was like poison to him…

Izumi suddenly felt the sudden sense of urgency that had been in Ophanimon's voice…they had to find Kouji. He was already sick when the dark vines attacked the first time, and took him from them. Izumi guessed that the bearer of fire must've meant Takuya-he was the only one of them who had fire powers as an attack when he was in any of his Spirit forms.

Nodding to herself, Izumi grew determined. Now that she had deciphered the meaning behind Ophanimon's words, she had to concentrate on getting out of this darkness. She was really starting to get sick and tired of it.

But Izumi hadn't taken all but three steps forward, before someone grabbed her by the arm.

She screamed again, but a soft, gentle voice in the darkness told her to hush.

Some of the darkness vanished, and Izumi found herself looking up at the dark-armored Digimon, who had saved her the first time around. Trying to hide her surprise, Izumi swallowed nervously and tried to look into the Digimon's eyes…he avoided her gaze, and only started to pull her along further into the darkness.

Izumi managed to find the strength and pulled her arm out of his grasp, and he turned around to look at her. She really wished that she could see his face, to see what he was thinking-but because of his mask, she couldn't.

"If I'm going to go with you, you have to promise me two things." All the Digimon did, was turn his head slightly to the side, as though questioning her exactly what it was he wanted her to promise-all without speaking. Izumi fought the urge to growl underneath her breath at how incredibly childish that this Digimon was acting, and instead, settled for stomping her foot.

"You listen to me _right_ now! I need you to _promise _me that you're going to tell me what your name is-before I go anywhere with you-and you're going to promise to me that you're going to help me find Junpei before we even _think_ of a way out of this darkness because I'm not going to go anywhere without him!" Stomping her foot once again for emphasis, her bright blue eyes opened wide when she heard the dark-armored Digimon start laughing…at her!

"Oh, you're a very amusing girl indeed-they told me you would be…" Izumi grew furious, and it was apparent by the look on her face, because the Digimon stopped laughing.

"How rude of me. All right, I'll agree to keep those promises. And to start it out, my name is Duskmon…and I know where your friend Junpei is-he's not hurt, on the contrary he's quite all right and is waiting for me to bring you to him, so that we can get out of this darkness. Does that sound better?" Nodding, Izumi accepted Duskmon's guidance as he brought her closer into the darkness…

TBC 

End Note:

I know, I know I said that in my last chapter's AN that I'd bring Takuya back in this chapter…but…see, my dilemma is, is that if I did the scene that's going to start out as the next chapter's beginning for the ending of _this_ chapter-it'd make it a _HUGE_ chapter! I'm _not_ kidding! And I couldn't have ended this chapter as well as it did-it's somewhat of a cliff hanger, but not a _horrible_ one…right? (Listens as readers start booing and hissing at her and crawls back meekly into her unknown hiding space) Umm...review and help keep this author inspired…please? (gives readers puppy dog eyes) I _PROMISE_ that Takuya will come back in the next chapter, which I'm working on as we speak and this fic will be the first fic updated in my next update rounds! And if I spelled Tomoki's Beast Digimon name wrong, can someone please let me know?


	25. Welcome To My Nightmare pt V

Disclaimer: The muses would like to remind everyone that Angel Spirit doesn't own Digimon, just the plot of the fic.

Author's Notes: Muahahahaha, so here's the much anticipated update for Different Journey's that everyone wanted! Major thank you to Sailor Epyon for beta reading this, as always, you're wonderful! I'm _so_ not going to say much here, except to warn people of the weirdness in this chapter! Remember, that Takuya, Kouji, and Tomoki are still in the Nightmare Island ordeal, and it's a place where _anything_ and _everything_ can happen…but don't worry, the WTMN saga is coming to a close and we'll get back on track with what's been going on while they've been stuck on Nightmare Island…but first, back to our bishies, ne? (When I say 'weird', I mean "Twilight Zone" weirdness going on…but maybe it's just me…meh, I still had fun writing this chapter anyway and you guys will see what I mean when you read it…((gulps nervously and crawls under her rock)) )

Rating: PG13

Warning: This fic contains slash/yaoi…if you're not a fan of male/male pairings or any of the pairings listed below, then I suggest that you hit the wonderful back button at the top left of your page there and run far, far away. Don't say you haven't been for warned.

Pairings: Takuya/Kouji and strong Izumi/Junpei hints

Time Setting 100 AU; rewrite of season 04 with Takoujiness abound…ages of the Digi Destined are mentioned in the beginning chapters of the fic if one is curious.

**Different Journey's **

**Author: Angel Spirit **

**Chapter 25: Welcome to my nightmare part V: Bittersweet Denial **

The constant sound of beeping stirred Kouji into consciousness, and he had to blink a few times to focus his blurred vision, as he wondered where he was.

He took in a slight breath, and then coughed at the strong smell of cleaning solution mixed in with other chemicals, and it helped him wake up a bit further, and become more awake.

When Kouji saw that he was in the hospital, he panicked...his head immediately darting back and forth as his dark, blue-gray eyes filled with intense worry, as he tried to figure out how he'd gotten here from the Digital World…and where was Takuya?

Thinking of the missing brunette caused Kouji's panic to heighten, and he pushed the hospital's flimsy blankets and covers off of him.

_What if it was all a dream? Did I fall into a coma or something and dream it all…if the Digital World isn't real, then what about Takuya? _Kouji's thoughts were frantic, and he realized he _had_ to get out of here.

The door to his room opened, and he gasped as a man in a white coat came in, his nametag reading Dr. Howard, and Kouji made a face without having meant to. He wasn't a big fan of doctors…and needles were his number one enemy, and he associated doctors with needles, so that made doctors his number one enemy, as well.

"Mr. Minamoto, so good of you to join us in the land of the living…I'm sure your father will be most relieved to see that you're awake and moving." The doctor said, as he ushered Kouji back into bed and checked over his vital signs, and any other important stuff that he needed to do. But Kouji's mind was only focused on one thing.

"Takuya…is Takuya here?" The doctor rose an eyebrow, and he shook his head as he got out a miniature flashlight, and Kouji backed up as far as he could in his bed, but he was trapped and had no choice, but to let the doctor shine the light into his eyes-no doubt to determine if he had a concussion or something.

"No Mr. Minamoto, there's no one here by the name of Takuya…you must've hit your head pretty hard when you fell down those stairs…your father's been frantic with worry." This time, it was Kouji who rose an eyebrow, as he tried to figure out what the doctor was saying, as he tried to piece together what was going on…that was before the doctor had reached over to the end of his bed, to grab a clipboard that was nestled in a tray there.

As Kouji watched the doctor scribble something unreadable (at least, _he_ couldn't read it) onto what Kouji presumed had to be his medical chart, his dark, blue-gray eyes opened wide when he saw the date.

_October 15, 1993? That's **not** right…it's 2003…_

Kouji's mind raced to think of why the doctor's clipboard had said 1993…and he opened his mouth to object to the date, but immediately snapped it shut. The doctor had already looked at him like he was crazy when he'd asked about Takuya…

_So is this a memory or something? _Kouji thought, trying to piece together missing puzzle pieces that just didn't seem to want to appear.

Finally, the doctor finished his writing, and put Kouji's chart back into its tray.

"I'll go let your father know that you're awake and moving…he'll be glad to hear it." Doctor Howard declared, as he left the room, and the moment the door was closed behind him, Kouji leapt for his medical chart as he read through it, his heart hammering while he did so.

The injuries listed there were all the same, as he had gotten that one horrible night when his father had come home too drunk to give a damn about anything…

And Kouji shuddered at the thought, wondering why in the hell he was here now…this wasn't a nightmare…unless if Doctor Howard was going to come back and torture him with needles or something, then maybe _that_ would count as a nightmare, but somehow Kouji doubted that that was likely to happen.

Knowing now that he was stuck in some kind of warped dream world, Kouji managed to get out of bed and was shocked to see that he _did_ have the same injuries from that awful night…his left wrist was wrapped heavily in ace bandages, and splinted to keep him from moving it too much. He knew he had tons of bruises all over his body, and that there were stitches covered by gauze and tape above his right eyebrow…his lower lip felt cracked and torn where his father had punched him…

Kouji shuddered again, not wanting to continue thinking about the 'light' injuries he'd sustained from his 'trip down the staircase.' His father had made the awful excuse for him, that he'd been a klutz and had fallen down the staircase…not wanting anyone to know that he could possibly harm a child, when in all reality his _father_ had been the one who had tossed him down the stairs-only after getting in a few punches of his own, beforehand.

It made Kouji not want to see his father right then.

So he snuck out, and after making sure that the coast was clear in the hallway, he made a right to avoid the nurse's station, that he knew was down at the end of the hallway he was avoiding.

A part of him actually remembered doing this…he'd tried to forget everything about that night, and the next few days he'd spent recovering…trying to stay as far away from his father as he possibly could, lest he'd get anymore injuries to add onto the ones he already had. He remembered that when he'd gotten home with his father, that he had to wait until night to retrieve his pain medication for his wrist from his father's coat pocket, because his he wouldn't give them to him…telling him that he needed to toughen up, that he was a weakling for wanting the pain killers in the first place.

Of course it had also helped that his father had been called into work for the night, and that he'd accidentally grabbed a different coat than the one he'd worn, when he'd gone to pick up Kouji's medication.

But that was in the past…

So why in the hell was he reliving it now? He didn't want to remember it…

But apparently, someone _did_ want him to remember it.

Deciding to go along with the flow (as much as he hated doing so), Kouji continued along the hallway, determined to stay away from his father, as long as he possibly could.

A sense of Déjà vu filled him as he remembered that the ICU ward was somewhere along this corridor…and a small voice in the back of his mind told him to keep on going.

When he did, he was surprised at what he found…

Actually, it was more like _who_ he found.

Takuya was standing in front of one of the windows that looked into an ICU ward, a look of pure sorrow etched into his face, and Kouji found his heart going out to his koi. With soft footsteps, Kouji managed to make it to Takuya's side in just a few minutes, and he glanced into the window that Takuya was looking into with teary eyes.

A woman lay on the bed within, unconscious and hooked up to many machines. As Kouji glanced from the woman in the ICU room to Takuya, he noticed that Takuya looked a lot like her and he wondered if she was his mother. From the distressed look on his koi's face, Kouji assumed so.

"Is that your mother?" He asked softly, and Takuya nodded-looking like he was trying to hold back tears.

Kouji gasped suddenly, as he blinked for a moment, and saw a much younger looking Takuya, rubbing a fist over his eyes to clear the tears away…and then Kouji blinked again and Takuya was back to being his fourteen-year old self.

Shaking his head to clear it, as Kouji wondered what in the hell was going on, he continued to look into the ICU room…until someone came up to them, and Kouji almost felt like he had to hide behind Takuya, lest he got caught and had to be sent back to his room like a naughty little child.

The person who came up to them, looked strangely like Takuya, also. He had _really_ dark, brown hair that was tied in a ponytail like his own hair, but the man's hair was a bit shorter than his, and a little more on the curly side, too. Takuya had the man's eyes, and they were as dark as his hair, holding a kind expression in them. Kouji wasn't sure what it was, but there was something about this man that made him trust him completely.

The man chuckled and knelt down to Takuya and Kouji could suddenly see that Takuya as ten years old, again.

"I see you've made a friend already, Takuya." Takuya shrugged, and glanced behind him at where Kouji now stood.

"Not really papa, I just met him." Kouji's dark, blue-gray eyes opened wide and he opened his mouth to object…before closing it again. The doctor had already looked at him like he was nuts, once…

So it looked like Kouji needed to play along. He wondered, if he could see Takuya as ten years old, if that was how Takuya's father saw him now…as an injured ten-year-old boy…

From the look on Mr. Kanbara's face, as he chuckled softly, he probably did.

_Okayyy…this is now officially freaky. I'm a fifteen-year old stuck in my ten-year old self…someone up there must **really** hate me right now. _Kouji thought, deciding that it would be best to play along. It still felt like Déjà vu to him though…why did it feel like this had all happened, already? He felt _really_ confused…

But he started suddenly when Mr. Kanbara knelt and lowered himself to his level, so that they saw each other eye to eye.

"Looks like you got banged up a little bit." Mr. Kanbara mused, and Kouji ducked his head, so that he was no longer staring into the dark eyes that belonged to Takuya's father.

"I…I just fell down some stairs, that's all." Kouji murmured, and from the look that Takuya's father was giving him, he had the feeling that the older man didn't believe him. It made Kouji wonder if Takuya's father was a lawyer or something…either that, or he was just being a horribly _bad_ liar.

"Papa, how long will it be before Mama wakes up?" Takuya asked, and his father turned around to face him with a sad smile on his face.

"I'm not sure, Takuya…the doctor said it might take some time…mommy was hurt pretty badly." Mr. Kanbara explained in the most comforting voice he could manage, as he stood and gently ruffled Takuya's slightly curly, brown hair.

"I'm going to go and check on your mom, okay kiddo?" Takuya nodded, watching as his father smiled sadly at him, before turning around and heading into the room his mother was in. Takuya once more turned to face the window, completely ignoring Kouji…and suddenly Takuya was his fourteen-year old self…

Dare Kouji believe that he was his fifteen-year old self? This was just _too_ random…it was like he was living in the present, and yet, the present kept on going into flashbacks or something…

"Mom…mom was pregnant with my baby sister…" Takuya took a deep breath, and leaned his forehead and right arm up against the glass, as he continued.

"I had had a soccer game…one that determined if my team was going to the championships or not, and I'd _begged_ my dad to come with me, even though he was supposed to hang around home and take care of my mother, when the live-in nurse wasn't there. But I threw a huge temper tantrum and my dad gave in and took me." This time Takuya swallowed looking very guilty as he continued to look into the ICU room, trying to hold back tears of sadness and regret.

"Dad got a phone call halfway through the game…mom had gone into labor early and scared Shinya half to death…she'd made him go next door and have them call 911…the hospital called dad…we ended up leaving the game early, and I never did find out who won…I didn't really care, anyway. All I cared about was that my mom was in trouble. My mom ended up losing the baby that day…they found out it would've been a girl, I would've had a baby sister…but I'd been _stupid_ and…and selfish…and…" This time, the tears came, and Takuya lowered his head so that Kouji couldn't see them.

But what Kouji said next, caused Takuya's head to jerk upright so that he was finally staring into his dark, blue-gray eyes, a look of astonishment crossing his features.

"Baka." Takuya frowned as he continued to look at Kouji's eyes, and opened his mouth to say something in reply, but Kouji shook his head.

"Don't…don't say one word. Your mother survived this, right?" Not finding the right words to answer Kouji's question with, Takuya nodded mutely.

"You get to still spend time with her every day; you still get hugs and kisses from her, and she tells you that she loves you and you get to hear her say good night to you before you go to bed at night, right? You got to be tucked into bed as a little kid by her, you got bed time stories read, scrapes and cuts mended and kissed to make all better by her…right?" Again, Takuya nodded, wondering where Kouji was going with this.

"Then you're lucky, Takuya. I don't have a mom…I've got Satomi, and she's my stepmother now…but that doesn't really count. She's not my _real_ mother…I never got any of that growing up, Takuya…what did I get? I got a father who drunk his misery away, who liked to use me as a punching bag whenever he could…until he realized one night, that he went too far with me…and landed me in the hospital…_again_. It happened shortly after _this_ episode…Takuya, I didn't _fall_ down the stairs like my dad told the nurses and doctors when he brought me in, he _beat _me…and then _he_ threw me down the stairs." As Kouji found himself admitting this, he felt a hurtful anger stir deep inside…he hadn't felt it in quite awhile, not since his father had gone to rehab and met Satomi…one of the volunteers at the hospital. They'd started dating, and that had been what had really gotten his father to kick the drinking habit…falling in love.

He hadn't done it for his son…no…Kousei Minamoto had gotten better, because he'd fallen in love with a woman and had wanted to make himself a better man for her. _That_ was one of the reasons, to this day, why Kouji hated Satomi's guts.

Kouji felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and he glanced up-startled-to find Takuya looking at him with a haunting look in his eyes.

"I guess we both still have our demons that we have fought along the way, and are still fighting to this day, huh?" Takuya whispered, and Kouji nodded as they turned to look into the ICU room that belonged to Yuriko Kanbara, one more time.

"Be glad that you've still got her, Takuya…I'd give anything to have my real mother back…_anything_. I hardly knew her when I lost her." With that, Kouji closed his eyes; suddenly feeling tired and Takuya looked at him in concern.

"Are you okay?" Takuya asked, and Kouji nodded a weary smile on his face, as he opened his eyes again and looked directly into Takuya's dark, brown ones. Takuya blinked at the sudden change of emotion in Kouji's eyes…they were different now, more serious.

"Yeah, I'm okay…the question is, though, are _you_ okay?" Kouji replied, and Takuya managed to nod.

Something seemed to change…Kouji could practically feel it in the atmosphere, and he shivered slightly as he glanced over at Takuya, who suddenly blinked and stared around him…it was almost as though Takuya couldn't really remember what he was doing here in the hospital in the first place.

"Takuya, are you sure you're _really_ okay?" Kouji asked once more, his voice soft and Takuya turned to look at him-a look of surprise clearly showing on his face, as though he hadn't expected Kouji to be there, and Kouji frowned as Takuya nodded again at Kouji's question.

"Yeah…I…think I am...now…thanks." The brunette murmured, and Kouji's frown of concern was immediately replaced by a soft smile.

However, his smile suddenly vanished as the surroundings of Shibuya General started to shimmer around them, and slowly faded into nothingness. Takuya was startled, feeling like he was trapped between a dream and reality…

And in truth, he was.

Everything was starting to disappear, but Kouji and him…but even Kouji was starting to look a little distant…like he really wasn't there.

"Takuya…you need to wake up…_now_!" Those were Kouji's last words before he disappeared completely, along with everything else…and Takuya found himself falling into nothingness…screaming as he did so.

Bolting awake a minute later, Takuya tried to even out his breathing, as he glanced around at his surroundings and sighed with irritation. He was still trapped in the horrible darkness that he'd been trapped in for the past few days, but this time, things were different. This time, when he woke, there was someone else _with_ him…and he wasn't alone. He was still on the ground, though this time; someone was behind him-dragging him along-he felt their left arm along his chest, as they scrambled backwards with their legs and right arm.

Directly behind him, Kouji's breath came out in pants of fear and Takuya-still gaining his bearings-glanced over his shoulder at his koi…and was surprised to see that Kouji _was_ afraid. His face was pale, and his dark hair was damp with sweat-somewhere along the way, Kouji had lost his windbreaker and his bandanna was starting to fall off. In all honesty, his koi was a mess.

"Kouji, wha-?" But Takuya didn't even get to finish his sentence, as Kouji pointed a finger in the direction in front of them and Takuya turned to see what it was Kouji had been trying to get them away from…and his dark, brown eyes opened wide in a mix of surprise and horror.

"What _is_ that?" Takuya asked suddenly, feeling the same panic Kouji was, and Kouji shook his head, his breathing starting to come out ragged.

"I…don't know…it started to come after us shortly after I was dumped here with you…you were pretty out of it when I got here, and I'm not feeling so hot, myself…and that damned thing is _determined_ to get us…" Kouji muttered, and when Takuya turned his head again, he saw the truth in Kouji's words.

It didn't look like Kouji would be able to stay awake for too much longer.

"Yeah, well two can play at this game of determination, as I'm determined to get us the hell out of here!" Takuya declared, now fully awake, alert, and ready for anything. Up ahead, the beast-like Digimon growled, its growl turning into a loud roar, and Takuya winced as the roar caused a wind to blow in their direction. But not before he waved a hand in front of his face, grimacing.

"Phew…someone needs breath mints or something!" The goggle-head suggested, sweat-dropping as the beast Digimon roared again at his comment. Deciding that it was truly time to get out of there, Takuya managed to surge into a standing position, bringing Kouji up along with him, since his koi still had his arm around his chest.

Quickly making it so that Kouji was riding on his back, Takuya took off in a run…fumbling to bring his detector out of one of the pockets in his cargo pants, as he debated about whether or not he should digi-volve with how weak Kouji was. And Takuya knew that Kouji was weak, too…Kouji hadn't even fought him when he'd kept him on his back, and normally that wasn't his koi's style.

A quick glance behind him, allowed Takuya to see that Kouji was asleep…be it by choice or by his body's sudden demand, Takuya wasn't sure, and he growled softly under his breath as he continued to run, while he heard the beast-Digimon continue to come after them.

He hadn't seen Kouji in _days_…and his koi looked like he'd been through hell and back again on a round trip.

_I'm **never** letting Kouji out of my sight **ever** again! _Takuya decided, and gasped as he accidentally tripped over his own two feet, and sent the two of them sprawling. Takuya managed to grab a hold of Kouji's arm, though, before he rolled too far away.

The beast-Digimon, who was still coming after them, took Takuya's stumble to his advantage, and roared as he gained up on them-and was soon towering over them.

"Nice beastie…good beastie…" Takuya muttered, as he managed to bring Kouji up enough, so that he could swing him into his arms as he now carried him bridal style, backing up as quickly as he could to get away from whatever Digimon was chasing them. As if on cue, his detector went off, telling Takuya _exactly_ what was in front of him.

"KoryIkkakumon is a beast type Digimon, he is evolved from Kumamon." Dark brown eyes opened wide as the detector announced this, and Takuya cursed softly under his breath.

"So you're telling me that that _thing_ in front of us, that's giving us a stare down, is _Tomoki_?" Takuya yelped, and he could've sworn that if the detector could, it would've nodded in confirmation. Instead, it only chirped an "affirmative," before going quiet once more…and Takuya cursed it as well.

"Tomoki…heya buddy…remember me? You don't want to hurt me, right?" The brunette coaxed with as much bravado as he could muster, while he adjusted Kouji's limp weight in his arms. Kouji groaned softly, but otherwise then that, he remained quiet and still.

_You especially don't want to hurt me with Kouji like this…c'mon Tomoki…I **know** you're in there somewhere! Help me out, little buddy…_Takuya silently pleaded, as he continued to have a stare down with KoryIkkakumon, wondering how in the hell he was going to get Kouji and himself out of this mess. In his arms, Kouji stirred briefly and groaned again, with beads of sweat forming on his forehead, and Takuya hoped that Kouji wasn't going through a nightmare.

_Now is **so** not the time, Kouji…I need you here with me! _Again, Takuya silently pleaded, but he knew he wouldn't get an answer. He only had two choices, as far as he could see, and neither of them were really the best to choose from in this situation. One of them was to digi-volve and turn himself into Agnimon and see if he couldn't knock some sense into Tomoki. But in order to do that, he'd have to put Kouji down and leave him unprotected…and there was no way that Takuya was willing to do that. Not now…

So that left his only other option, which was running…as fast and far away as he could possibly go…

Takuya chose the latter choice.

**BREAK**

"My friends are still back there…" Izumi murmured, a part of her resisting Duskmon, a much, stronger part of her wanting to go with him and finally be able to see the sunlight…or the moons and stars…whatever time of day or night it was. It would be better than seeing nothing but darkness.

All Duskmon did was grunt and continue to pull her along, dragging her like she was some kind of child.

"I want to go back and help them!" The blonde cried, suddenly gaining courage, as she dug her heels into the ground and tried to refuse to go any further. _Tried_, because the moment that Duskmon seemed to sense that she was resisting him, he tightened his grip on her wrist and used it to swing her up…so that he was now carrying her over his shoulder.

Izumi blushed furiously…_then_ she retaliated by hitting his backside with her fists.

"You let me go! You hear me; you _let...me…go!_" Each of the last three words Izumi cried out were emphasized with a hit, but either Duskmon was acting like he had gone deaf, or he just truly didn't care what Izumi wanted.

Izumi had the sneaky suspicion that it was the later suggestion, and not the first one…she had the feeling that Duskmon didn't really care what it was she wanted…and she glowered and fought a moan of embarrassment at the predicament she was in. This was _not_ what she wanted…she didn't want to be over the shoulder of a strange Digimon who she hardly even knew…and wasn't sure if she trusted.

The situation was _not_ in her favor.

_If you hadn't tried to resist him, you wouldn't be where you are now…_A sly voice in the back of Izumi's mind lightly scolded her, and Izumi mentally snarled at it to go away.

"You wanted me to take you out of the darkness, so I am…you should remember that I've also rescued your friend Junpei as well, and he's waiting for you where I left him. Be thankful I'm doing this much…I didn't have to do anything to help you at all. I could've left you lost in that darkness…and then where would you be?" Duskmon finally spoke, and when he did, Izumi only glowered some more at the question that he'd asked her when she realized that he was completely right. She _had_ agreed to go with him…

So why was it that she was starting to really not _trust_ Duskmon?

Womanly intuition, maybe…? Or maybe it was because he spoke so little, so Izumi hardly knew who he was…the only thing Izumi knew for sure, was that Duskmon had just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Coincidence…?

Izumi suddenly thought _not_. But she kept the thought to herself…she'd wait until

she was with Junpei, and then they'd discuss her thoughts on Duskmon in private. It was obviously apparent from Duskmon's whole persona that he _had_ to be a dark Digimon. So why on earth was a dark Digimon _helping_ them instead of trying to hurt them, or steal their spirits like all the other dark Digimon they'd run into so far?

_He's up to something…but what is it? _Izumi thought, lifting her head enough so that she could see the darkness they were leaving behind…she felt a sudden chill go through her, and she shook her head at it.

_Why do I have the horrible feeling that Takuya and Kouji are in danger…and that this creepy jerk has something to do with it…is that why he's taking me out of the darkness? Is he trying to get Junpei and myself away from the others, so we can't help our friends since we'd be stronger, because we've been through our nightmares already? _That last thought, almost caused her to gasp, and Izumi had to bite down hard on her lower lip to keep her thoughts to herself. She didn't want to let Duskmon know, in any way, that he suspected him of anything...not yet, anyway.

A plan slowly started to form in her mind…all she had to do now, was wait until they got to Junpei…

**BREAK**

**  
**

Takuya had to stop…he had to rest. He couldn't remember how long that he had been running with Kouji in his arms, but the feeling in his arms were starting to grow numb…and he knew his body was trying to tell him that it was time to stop for awhile, too.

Slowing down to a stop, Takuya paused and listened to the darkness around him.

The only thing he could hear was his own harsh breathing…it sounded like he'd lost KoryIkkakumon…for _now,_ anyway. But there was no telling when Tomoki's beast spirit would find them again.

_We need to find a way out of this darkness…_Takuya thought, as he sank down to his knees and dropped Kouji enough, so that his unconscious form was leaning up against his knees to give his arms a rest.

Shaking the feeling back into his arms, Takuya winced as feeling started to return, making his arms feel like they were getting pricked by needles a thousand times over or something…but he still continued to think of a plan. He had the feeling that the only way out of here, would be to digi-volve into his Beast Spirit form and somehow get Tomoki to gain control of his beast spirit, so that Tomoki would remember who he and Kouji were…and would stop going after them and help them, instead.

While Takuya really wasn't looking forward to fighting against KoryIkkakumon by himself, it looked like he wouldn't really have much of a choice…Kouji couldn't fight, not in the state that his koi was in.

Smiling softly, Takuya gently brushed back a few strands of dark hair that had fallen into Kouji's face and Takuya sighed.

"We keep on getting ourselves into these messes, huh? It seems like every time we let each other out of our sight, we always find our way back to each other, banged up even more than before…" Again Takuya sighed and shook his head as he managed to stretch his arms, wincing as he felt the muscles pop while he did so, before bringing them down again, and reaching back with his right hand to gently massage his neck.

When Kouji started to stir, Takuya instantly paused in his one handed massage and brought the hand down to gently cup the side of Kouji's face, instead.

"You with me here, koi?" Takuya murmured, and Kouji groaned again before his dark, blue-gray eyes flickered open, and he found himself staring up at Takuya.

"Yeah…for the moment…" Kouji responded back, almost so softly that Takuya didn't hear him. But the brunette grinned as Kouji awoke a little further, and he bent over to gently kiss him-hoping that the kiss would wake him a bit further. Kouji moaned happily, and kissed Takuya back, deepening it. Soon, all that mattered was their kiss that they were involved in…it was like the darkness wasn't there-as though the darkness was the least of their worries.

Takuya growled softly as they had to break away from the kiss long enough for some air, before he started kissing Kouji again. Kouji didn't stop him; he only reached up and placed his arms around Takuya's shoulders, locking his hands together behind Takuya's neck.

"I would _so_ like to get into your pants, now…" Takuya muttered, and Kouji blushed a bright red as he laughed-breaking the kiss-and settled for burying his head into Takuya's right shoulder, instead.

"Yeah, I bet you'd like that now, wouldn't you?" The dark haired teen lightly teased, and again Takuya let out a low, frustrated growl.

"Damn it…_yes_. But…" Takuya wasn't able to finish off his sentence, because someone _else_ did it for him.

"This isn't the time or the place. Now I suggest if you boys want to somehow _survive_ being hunted by the Beast Spirit that's after you, you'll follow _me_." Both teens' heads jerked up, and Takuya's dark, brown eyes widened and his face paled at the thought that someone else had been watching Kouji's and his tiny make-out session, while Kouji's earlier blush deepened some more, until he felt warm in the face from sheer embarrassment.

"Dirty little hentai…" Kouji muttered underneath his breath, indicating the comment towards the girl who now stood in front of them, and Takuya smirked, knowing that she hadn't heard it…and that it had been meant for his ears only.

"Call me what you want, but like I said, unless you follow me…you're data bait." Both boys raised their eyebrows at this, as Takuya stood and offered Kouji a hand up, one that Kouji gratefully accepted as he stood and leaned against him.

"You okay to walk, or do you want me to carry you?" Takuya murmured, and Kouji shrugged.

"I think I'm okay with walking…I'm sure that I'll let you know if that changes, though." Kouji replied back in a soft voice, and Takuya nodded as he stayed close to Kouji, while they looked up at the girl who stood in front of them…

And Takuya's eyes opened wide with shock, and a glance over at Kouji told him that Kouji must've been thinking the same thing that he was.

"Takuya…unless I'm seeing things…she looks like a female version of you…_please _tell me that I'm seeing things." Kouji muttered underneath his breath, but Takuya could only shake his head as he continued to stare at the girl in front of them.

"Nope…sorry Kouji…I'm seeing _exactly_ what you're seeing…and it's kind of freakin' me out." Indeed, as Takuya continued to look at the girl in front of him, Takuya _was_ freaking out…she was petite and slender, her dark, brown hair was slightly curly like his own, and it fell a little past her shoulders. But what really got Takuya and Kouji were her facial features that resembled Takuya's so greatly…it was almost like looking in a mirror…_almost_, except the girl's face looked quite a bit younger-and more feminine, of course. She had on a white, flowing dress that had only one shoulder strap over her right shoulder; a strand of pearls were around her waist, tied loosely in a knot, as though it were like some kind of sash. Her feet were bare and her skin was pale. She looked to be quite a bit younger than them…a mere child stuck in the same darkness that they were trapped in.

"You two _must_ come with me, Takuya, _please_ trust me…_please_." The girl called out, beckoning them to go with her.

The two teens paused and looked at each other, as though silently asking each other if they should trust her to lead them out of the darkness, to lead them to what would hopefully be someplace safe.

Their question was answered for them, though, when the loud roar of KoryIkkakumon could be heard from a nearby distance-it sounded like he'd gained on them during their small break.

Both Takuya and Kouji nodded at each other, determination filling their eyes as they decided that the only way they were going to get out of this situation was to follow the girl. They'd trust her…for now…and then when they had the time, they'd ask her who she really was…and why in the world she looked so much like Takuya. There had to be a catch-they just weren't seeing it. To Kouji, it felt like there were a lot of loose ends that needed to be tied up-from Takuya's nightmarish past to his own, it somehow felt like it was all connected.

"If you're going to come, then I suggest you follow, _now_." The mysterious girl hissed out, and Takuya grabbed Kouji's hand as the two started running after her…

Right as KoryIkkakumon came bounding towards them through the darkness, his axe held high for a direct attack…

TBC

Quick End Note: ((grins mischievously)) so can anyone guess who the mysterious little girl is?


End file.
